Revelations
by Trixfan
Summary: Book Three of Four. The revelations are coming. What exactly will be revealed and by whom? Jim and Trix have been down the hole for over a year, how will their relationship cope the surprises to come? Can Honey and Mart survive Matthew's political campaign? Is the Cartel finished or about to rise from the ashes like a phoenix? All will be revealed.
1. Chapter 1

I want to thank everyone for their reviews of Discovery. Please enjoy this next book.

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'Do you really think they're still alive,' Honey asked from the warmth of Mart's embrace.

Matthew Wheeler gifted his daughter a welcome night out, away from the prying media eye. He planned an intimate dinner for two at an exclusive New York establishment to signal his approval of the relationship. Last evening, they'd celebrated the end of Columbia's exam period and a return to a more normal life.

The cartel responsible for the Jim and Trixie's abduction now defunct, the remaining Bob Whites became free to enjoy their lives without protective restrictions. Mart and Dan wished to round out their college experience by relocating to the dorms at Columbia for their sophomore year. Brian had no intention of joining his brother after his first horrendous experience. He understood the sanctuary Matthew Wheeler's accommodations offered.

In two weeks, Mart would recommence to his studies in English Literature and Journalism for the summer term. This weekend, Honey and Mart wanted to take some time out for themselves. It didn't take their minds off the significance of today's date as they lay together in the boys' apartment for perhaps the last time.

'Yes,' he answered simply, with so much conviction anyone hearing Martin Belden would believe as emphatically as he did.

'Why,' Honey questioned, turning in his arms to face her boyfriend. Watching his expressive face, she noted the complex series of emotions playing across his features. 'It's been a year,' she reminded, 'what continues to give you such faith?' she couldn't understand his determined stance. 'I want to believe, but every day that goes by without some clue, takes a little of my optimism away. Most people have given up hope. Only our efforts keep the story in the public eye. I'm so afraid…'

'Honey,' Mart allowed his fingers to gently caress the side of her face. Letting her know he'd counted each day, he responded in a low, mournful voice, 'it's been one year, twenty five days and twenty three hours since the abduction. I know my "almost twin" is still alive. I feel this connection to Trix. I can hear her in my head, like an echo reverberating off a distant wall. The words are indistinct but I'd know her voice anywhere. Honey I feel she's content and want's to come home but can't.'

'I believe,' Mart blue eyes blaze with determination, 'Smithy stashed Trixie and Jim somewhere as a bargaining chip for his own purpose. To that end he couldn't have them escape or die easily.' His research into the cartel had been far ranging. The sources he'd forged impeccable. Martin Belden had made a name, albeit a pseudonym, for himself in the syndicated press with his insightful and slightly sarcastic articles. 'I have faith,' he continued resolutely, 'in Jim's skills to keep them alive in any situation. He'd die before he let anyone hurt my sister. I'm as certain of Trixie's feelings for him as you, my brother, Dan and Di are. I can only hope, between the two of them, they've managed to bond and survive the situation they've been placed in.'

'I guess you're right,' Honey shivered at the thought. 'It's a long time to think about Trix and Jim held captive.'

'There have been several cases over the last couple of years,' Mart stated. 'Do you remember that young woman they found alive and living in an offenders back yard last August.' Nodding her agreement, he continued, 'she'd been held captive for seventeen years. Then the year before, the German woman emerged from confinement after more than twenty years?'

'But…' Honey stammered, 'but her father kept her locked in a cellar.'

'Trix and Jim were kidnapped for ransom and revenge,' Mart confirmed, working through his theory, 'not for depraved reasons like those young women. I know they'll do everything in their power to escape where ever they've been placed.'

'I always thought Trixie would be back for her eighteenth birthday,' Honey lamented. She'd become too strong to weep tears at the sadness she felt. Only here in Mart's arms could she let her guard down and allow her eyes to glisten.

'I can't tell you why,' Mart hesitated, understanding the bigger picture, 'but I never expected them back this early.'

'How long,' Honey's surprise rang in her shocked tone, 'do you think we'll have to live in this limbo?'

'Three maybe four years,' he guessed. 'I believe Smithy made contingency plans. If anything happened to him or his family, they'd be found by accident. Your father's wealth and position wouldn't allow either of them to be easily taken again. It's the perfect plan.'

Shivering uncontrollably, Honey finally allowed her tears free rein. 'I hope you're wrong,' she whispered.

'Me too,' Mart lamented without conviction, 'because I can't imagine us sleeping together without some form of repercussions for all that time.'

Gathering Honey tighter, Mart knew the moment his message hit home. Finally Honey lost the last of her innocents as she glimpsed the bigger picture Mart painted for her. In many ways, Martin Belden's intelligence had been overshadowed by his elder brother. While Brian used his brain in a conventional way, Mart hid behind a facade of humour, common sense and being the clown of a middle child. His wide ranging interests worked in his favour. Journalism had been the perfect choice of career, given his way with words. Trixie's abduction affected the young man forcing the development of his serious side, maturing him beyond his years.

'Smithy would have ensured they had no access to money, documents of identification or the information superhighway,' Mart spoke gently, explaining the realities he'd discovered. Honey hiccupped, attempting to assimilate the information. 'Keeping Jim and Trixie ignorant is a powerful tool. In a low technology situation, they're going to be too busy fighting for survival. You and I are their only hope. If someone comes across them, by continuing to saturate the media, they might be recognised and returned to us.'

At about the same time, Helen Belden entered an upstairs bedroom at Crab-apple Farm. It hadn't been touched in almost thirteen months, except the weekly dusting. A smile graced her lips at the thought of how much Trixie hated that chore.

'Well, my girl,' Helen let her tears drip down her face, 'this is the second birthday we've celebrated without you.'

The last year had been hard enough as they worked through the first four stages of the grief process. They'd been through denial, pain, anger and reactive depression. Every holiday or special occasion held such melancholy the entire house felt it. This year, Helen thought her emotions might have decreased as she learnt to accept her daughter's disappearance. She discovered they hadn't. Facing Trixie's eighteenth birthday brought out feelings of loss and sadness. The family were still learning to cope, to assimilate the changes. They awaited acceptance.

'Last year,' Helen spoke into the empty room. Imagining Trixie sat on the other twin bed made her conversation flow and gave her the opportunity to pretend for a while, 'I felt so angry with you. We fought so much about the way you wanted to express your feelings for Jim. I hated being at odds with my only daughter. Even with the arguments between us, I couldn't decide what to get you for your birthday present.'

Sighing heavily, Helen fingered the brightly wrapped box in her hand. It contained a silver heart charm to add to the bracelet Jim gifted Trixie on the return flight from Iowa. The moment Helen spied the jewellery on Trixie's wrist, she knew the instant attraction she'd felt for Peter at sixteen had been genetically passed on to the next generation. When she examined the bracelet, discovering the quality and expense of the piece, she'd been convinced of Jim's intentions toward her very young daughter.

'When I saw this charm in the window at Crimpers,' Helen continued, 'I knew it belonged to you. I bought it a week before your abduction. We'd argued so much that week, yet I knew it signalled my eventual capitulation and hated myself for it. I'd hoped you wouldn't make the same mistakes as your father and I, yet I've never seen anyone for you, Trixie, but Jim.'

Returning to the store a few days ago, Helen found another charm. Holding the crystal and silver angle between her thumb and index finger, it caught the early morning light. Sunbeams scattered through the prism body, causing small rainbows on the walls.

'I hope she keeps you safe,' Helen murmured, delicately placing the trinket back in its box. Moving over to the dresser, she began to wrap the package in bright, cheerful paper. 'Where ever you are, Mart is convinced you're still alive, so I have to believe too. Mart's always been the one to sense your moods and know when you're in trouble. So as long as my son has faith, I can only hope, one day, you'll be returned to us.'

Peter stood, leaning on the door jam. Wondering where his wife got too, he'd followed his instincts. Watching and waiting until Helen needed him, Peter padded across the room. A pair of strong arms engulfed her, pulling husband and wife into an intimate embrace.

'She will,' Peter kissed the top of his wife's head. Strangely, Trixie's abduction drew them closer, physically and emotionally. Peter recalled depths in his wife personality he'd neglected, aspects he'd forgotten in the daily grind of living. Looking up, Helen allowed her lips to caress Peter's in comfort and support.

'Thank you,' she mouthed.

Slipping form Peter's embrace, Helen finished wrapping the gift. She moved to place a second parcel on Trixie's night stand. Sighing deeply, she knew the time for tears had passed. They had to get ready for guests tonight.

After working all day at his summer position, Brian drove the hour to Sleepyside. His last exam ended Wednesday evening. Brian deliberately commenced his new employment Thursday morning. He'd found closure in keeping himself busy.

Pushing open the back door to Crab-apple Farm, he called, 'anyone home?'

'Hey,' Bobby yelled, barrelling in behind his eldest brother. 'It's good to see you home. Mart and Honey are here already. Dan's just finishing up at Mr Maypenny's.'

'Mom said you had a job,' Brian smiled, following the youngest Belden into the house.

'Well,' Bobby grinned, 'Mr Maypenny is eighty this year. You and all the other Bob Whites live in New York now. Who else around here is going to help him out?'

'I'm proud of you, Bob,' Brian started using the shortened form of his name the day Trixie disappeared. He'd grown up so much in the last year. Being the youngest, Bobby coped better with the situation than the rest of the family.

'Thanks,' he grinned. 'Did you hear about Di?'

'Hard not to in this community,' Brian lamented sadly. 'It's really no one's business if Di has a girlfriend.'

'Not that silly,' Bobby rolled his expressive blue eyes, 'Missy drove Di, Honey and Mart down this morning. Mom's made her stay for the celebration tonight.'

Suitably chastised, Brian kept his council knowing Bobby still couldn't keep a secret. 'Di got a late offer from Vassar,' he grinned.

_Another Bob White leaving_, Brian hated the idea of them being split up any more, _even if she is staying in state to go to college, its hours from home. Then again, maybe that's the point in her case. A liberal arts school will suit Di perfectly_.

'Brian!' Helen held out her arms as he entered the kitchen.

'Mom,' he allowed himself to be engulfed by the homeliness conveyed in the simple contact.

'You look tired,' she announced, scrutinising his face.

_This child has suffered more than the others_, she lamented, _even if he pretends to be stoic, Brian is actually the most sensitive of my brood. How I wish I could help but he needs to find comfort in his own way._

Surrounded by her family, related and otherwise, Helen Belden finally felt complete. On the wall, photographs of Jim and Trixie joined in the party for the missing members eighteenth birthday. Looking up at the tall young man who resembled his father, Helen noticed the gleam in his eye. It hadn't been there since April last year.

'What is it Brian?' she asked.

'I'm not going to med school,' he proclaimed, a shy grin infusing his face. He hadn't meant to reveal his change in plans so suddenly.

'What!' Helen demanded. The tone caught the others, quelling their conversation. All eyes turned to Mother and son, slightly confused.

'As you know I almost flunked out last year,' Brian stated with a frown, facing his entire family at the same time, 'but that's not the reason I've reconsidered my future in Medicine. I can't see myself continuing on this tread mill for the next ten years. If I change my major now, I can pick up two units over the summer and still gradate in Forensics at the end of this academic year. I started an internship with the New York Police Department earlier this week.'

In the pandemonium that broke loose, the reason for the gathering became secondary. Brian's announcement signalled the start of a new phase in the grief cycle. Emotions of loss and sadness would visit each of them when they considered the ramifications of Jim and Trixie's absence. However, they'd come to accept the temporary loss with the realisation life had to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

'Trix,' Jim came into the sleeping cave. He'd brought water and breakfast for his common law wife.

They'd enjoyed the month long May honeymoon. June started uneventfully as life became monotonous. They achieved their self-appointed chores before the sun hit the zenith, leaving them hours each day to fill in. Initially they sat by the stream and talked. Even that became tedious and wearing as the same stories emerged. With nothing to fill their days and no outside stimulation, Trixie and Jim learnt to become content in each other's company and the silence that surrounded them.

The status quo changed few days before the end of the June. Lying on the sandy floor of the sleeping cave, Trixie looked pale and washed out. 'I'm worried about you,' Jim stated, concern filling his anxious green eyes, 'it's been four days and you're not getting any better.'

'We've been here fifteen months,' Trixie answered a weary smile on her lips. Levering herself into a sitting position, her head swam. Pausing until her sinus cleared, the cave came back into focus. She'd suffered the same symptoms for three days now. They'd come on so quickly, a runny nose one evening, then confined to the sleeping cave the next day with aches and pains all over her body. She'd relied on Jim to look after the garden and her while the fever subsided. 'You know one of us was bound to get sick eventually. I lucked out,' shrugging her shoulders, Trixie finally found the strength to stand. Jim quickly placed Trixie's breakfast on the floor and held out a hand to steady her as the world once again threatened to increase its rotation. 'I can't believe we've got this far with only one sprained wrist.'

'Do…do you think…' Jim hesitated to ask. They'd been so careful and to the best of his knowledge Trixie didn't have any signs or symptoms.

'No, Jim,' the idea brought a genuine grin, lighting her face. Folding her husband into her arms, Trixie let out a chuckle at the look of surprise. 'My period is due next week. I can tell,' hesitating to find the right words, 'it's a woman thing. Apart from feeling sick, like I have a really, really bad head cold, I'm as healthy as you. I know we had that scare a couple of months ago, but I'm not pregnant.'

'As long as you're sure,' he felt certain something more than a common virus ailed Trixie. While he couldn't do anything if the worst happened, Jim's mind dwelt on the issue. At the time, back in April, he calmly accepted the possibility. As the problem festered in the back of his mind, the implications of brining a new life into existence weighed heavily. 'I know how ridged you've been with our sex life,' Jim frowned, remembering the time's Trixie called a halt just in case, 'I still worry. What if we slip up?'

'Don't worry,' the conversation acted as a pick-me-up, making her fell lighter than she had in the last week, 'in a few days I'll be back to normal and we can have a very long make up session.'

To Jim's surprise, Trixie's recovery came as quickly as the initially stages of her illness. They'd barely been "married" two months but Jim felt a shift in his protective instincts. Trixie and their relationship meant more to Jim than his own life. He'd taken on the responsibility of "Husband" with all of his considerable mental ability, physical stamina and emotional heart.

'I need to find a way for us to get out of here,' he spoke to a section of sheer rock wall. The patterns of lighter shale within the cliff bent and moved following the natural movement of the barrier. Jim discovered the face like image in the long lonely days of Trixie's recent illness. Now he used the impression as a sounding board when he didn't want to worry his wife with his most depressing thoughts. 'I don't know how much longer we can last down here, on our own. If something happens to one of us, we get sick or hurt…' he couldn't finish.

Surveying the Hell Hole for maybe the millionth time, Jim racked his brain for a new idea. Nothing changed in this environment. The only mark they'd made within the hole left a green patch, supplying their food needs. Even that disappeared under a layer of snow during winter. They tried everything except attempting to climb the sheer cliff face. So far the universe seemed to be against them as each escape plan failed.

'I'm almost ready to try scaling these walls,' he stated determinedly, looking for a set of hand and foot holds. The image before him changed with the amount of sunlight illuminating it. To Jim, it suddenly appeared to laugh at his folly.

Taking up the challenge, he raised one arm above his head, finding the ledge he needed. His foot located a niche, enabling Jim to lever himself onto the wall. Three moves later, he looked down in the concerned blue eyes of his wife. Trixie didn't say a word as she appeared at his side. She didn't need to. Her feelings communicated on her mobile face. Without speaking, Jim climbed down.

'Please don't do that again,' Trix begged from the warmth of her husband's embrace. 'It makes me feel frightened because I know your reacting to my recent illness. You're trying to get us out of here before something else happens, I understand that.' Lifting her face to capture his gaze, she pleaded, 'I couldn't survive down here without you. If you fell from that height, Jim…'

'Trix,' Jim hesitated. Pushing her away, he held his wife at arm's length, 'it may be the only way. I've considered everything else and can't come up with another plan. Unless you have bright idea, I don't see we have a choice.'

'I have a bad feeling about it,' Trixie allowed the tears to slip down her face. 'At least,' she attempted to compromise, 'give me, give us some time to find another way. We have enough food to get through this coming winter. If we're still here next spring, we'll try then.'

'OK, Shamus,' Jim capitulated, 'but no promises past next spring. We need to find a way out of here.'

July commenced uneventfully as their life continued. Then they heard a strange sound. Unable to quantify it, both felt their hearts race as adrenalin pumped through their veins. Listening intently, Jim paced the circumference of the hole without being able to observe anything in his limited view of the sky. It continued for more than an hour before fading into the distance.

'What do you think?' Trixie questioned, still standing in the middle of the whole, her hand protecting her eyes from the suns glare.

'I hoped it might be a helicopter,' Jim answered, carefully considering his words, 'but it didn't make the same sound as the chopper last year. We would have seen a plane, even with the restricted view from inside the hole. In all the time we've been here, I've never heard even distant traffic. I don't know what to make of it.'

Trixie sighed deeply, 'well it's gone now. I find it strange,' she allowed her mind to wonder, 'at about this time last year the same thing happened.'

'What are you saying, Trix,' Jim attempted to jump on her wave length. Finding he couldn't follow her logic, he stood calmly at his wife's side waiting for her mind to work through the issue. The moment the clues coalesced, he saw the change in her facial expression.

'It's like we're being teased,' Trixie spoke slowly. 'Who ever put us down here wants someone to find us, eventually. Almost like it's part of a greater plan. I think it means they needed us alive but gone for a while. I don't see how that fits into our theory about Jonesy and Martinez's group. Either I'm missing something or I'm completely wrong.'

'I don't think so,' Jim encouraged. 'Jonesy did this for money, I'd bet my fortune on it. What if,' he considered, 'the person providing the money to get us here didn't want revenge on just you and I? What if he used Jonesy? He might be greedy enough to fall for something like that.'

'Jim, the gun's!' she exclaimed, an excited tone filling her words. 'I've been looking at this the wrong way. If this is a reaction from Martinez,' Trixie looked at the entire situation differently, 'he had to be taking orders from someone else, like the person paying for the gun shipment. If they could afford illegal weapons, they'd have the money to finance our abduction. So they wouldn't need to make a ransom demand on your father. That would be the carrot they dangled at Jonesy to gain his cooperation. It'd give access to us because of your history with your stepfather. Maybe they could blame this whole thing on him.'

Hesitating to think this new theory through, Trixie began to pace. 'Think about it this way, why kidnap us when it's be more logical to remove us completely.' Swallowing hard, Trix came to the sudden realisation; _we came really close to dying but something stopped that from happening. I need to work out what._ 'Maybe this is about more than us, maybe it's about insurance.'

'If we're found by accident…' Jim worked through this new idea. It didn't make sense to him so he shrugged his shoulders in defeat.

'We're the insurance,' Trixie added the missing pieces, 'because who ever put us here had to be forced too. By keeping us alive with the hope of detection, it gives that person power. I know we'll be discovered, Jim,' she encouraged, 'I just don't know when.'

'In the meantime,' ever practical, Jim intended to ensure in the future, if they heard a sound that might become their salvation, they'd be ready. 'We have a lot of work to do. The next time we hear something from above the rim, I want to be ready to attract their attention.'

'I have a better idea,' Trixie gained that special twinkle in her eye. Jim came to know exactly what it meant. 'If I'm right, we have another year before they come back. I want don't feel like rushing into anything right now, except the bathing pool for some fun.'

'Trix,' Jim shuddered at the blatant invitation. He wanted to, really wanted to join his wife and complete their conjugal relations. Since her sickness, he'd been afraid to touch Trixie.

'Jim,' a stern tone entered her voice, 'you only have a few days until it won't be possible. So either join me now, or I'll do it by myself.'

They'd become so familiar with each other's bodies, Jim felt his face split into a grin. He liked nothing more than Trixie pleasuring herself. 'Maybe you could do that first,' he teased, 'and I'll finish the job.'

'Only,' Trixie allowed the words to carry over her shoulder as raced towards her personal nirvana, 'if you beat me to the pool.'

August waned, they found themselves harvesting as much of the garden's produce as possible. Trixie and Jim started on a fall crop and preparations for yet another winter in the Hell Hole. Better prepared, they hadn't touched the canned food over summer and wouldn't need much to supplement their diet during the snowy months. If their luck continued, they'd be able to survive at least another two years. Jim hoped they'd be found long before that.

September brought cooler weather and the start of their short fall growing season. By October they moved plants onto the ledge beside the heated pool to protect them from the fast approaching winter. The morning and evenings had cool significantly.

'Jim,' Trixie yelped panic filling her voice. They'd been moving the last of the vegetable's across the hole.

Doubled over in pain, the cry brought Jim's immediate attention. Rushing to her, he guided Trixie to the steps of the sleeping cave. Kneeling before her, he asked, 'what happened?'

'I don't know,' she cried, curled up into a foetal position. 'It came on suddenly. Jim, it hurts right here.'

Pointing to the right side of her abdomen, Jim recalled his basic biology lessons. Stirring in the back of his mind, he remembered Brian talking about the appendix and the issues it could cause. Racking his brain, he felt desperate to recollect the conversation. Another student in their dorm had been found in his room in much the same condition as Trixie. Taking charge, Brian immediately called an ambulance, speculating the boy had appendicitis. By the time he'd made it to the hospital, it burst causing the more deadly peritonitis. He'd been sick a long time before returning to college life.

Understanding the implications if this happened to Trixie, he scooped his wife into his arms. Taking her into the cave, Jim placed her gently on her side. Feeling her brow, it felt cool, almost clammy to his touch. Moaning in pain, Trix curled into a tighter ball.

Sitting by her side, Jim felt completely useless. They didn't even have a first aid kit or any pain relieving medications. In this position at least, Trixie appeared to be in less pain. Placing a hand gently on her hip, Jim wondered what he could do to help. Coming up empty, he realised they could only await the outcome and hope for the best.


	3. Chapter 3

Warmth from the thermally heated sand beneath the old army canvas seeped into Trixie's body as she remained curled in a foetal position. Ever so slowly, the intense pain in her left side began to ease. How long she waited for the stabbing sensation to become manageable, she couldn't tell. It felt like an eternity with her eyes closed and mind concentrating on remaining still. Any small movement brought back the sensation.

Jim's hand, resting on Trixie's hip gave her immense comfort. Sitting next to her, keeping vigil, he didn't say anything. The lack of questions helped her relax. His concern displayed his devotion to her well-being. At some point the hurt diminished enough, allowing her to drift into a peaceful slumber.

'Jim,' Trixie whispered on waking, slightly disorientated.

Greeted by a soft snore and a length of pure American male cuddled up to her, a delighted smile lit her face. Her husband had fallen asleep spooning her body. His heat, combined with the natural warmth of the cave allowed Trixie to unfurl slightly while slumbering. Her knees and hips now flexed at ninety degrees, she attempted to straighten them further. Feeling the pull low in her abdomen, the intense pain seemed to have faded. Confused, Trix considered her situation.

_Strange_, she thought, _I wonder if I've pulled a muscle carrying the potted plants across the hole. This came on so suddenly, not while I lifted anything heavy. In fact I'd finished my chores and came back to the sleeping cave to start our evening meal. It just happened. One step I felt fine, the next, I thought someone stabbed me in the stomach._

Noticing how little light made it through the opening into the sleeping cave, Trixie realised night had fallen in the hours she slept. Not wanting to disturb Jim after the fright she put him through, she attempted to return to sleep. It didn't come easily. Her mind continued to investigate the reason for the discomfort in her side. She considered and rejected so many scenarios because they didn't fit the facts. On the cusp, an idea, a stray thought really, entered her mind.

Once it entered, she couldn't shake the notion. In fact the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Trepidation made her move suddenly, sending a jolt of pain up her left side. Letting out a whimper, the soft sound woke Jim instantly.

'Trix,' he rubbed his eyes, 'what is it.'

'I…I think I'm going to be sick,' she reacted to the newly acquired awareness her body knew to be a certainty. Why she didn't fit all the pieces together weeks or even months ago, she couldn't say. It seemed so simple now she suspected the truth.

Scrambling from his position, Jim rushed out to find an empty tin. While there is grabbed some other emergency supplies they kept just outside the cave. Returning in time, Trixie attempted to empty the contents of her stomach into the offered receptacle. Dry retching because she hadn't eaten since early morning, Trixie's blue eyes looked miserably up at her Husband. Handing her a wet strip of t-shirt once used to bandage his sprained wrist Jim helped Trixie wipe her mouth.

'Jim,' Trixie's voice sounded weak to her ears.

'Don't talk,' Jim wiped her forehead. Gesturing to the used tin, he waited until Trixie indicated she no longer needed it before taking it outside and burying the contents.

Looking at him with sorrow, she watched Jim come back to her side in the dim light. This time she's demanded he listen to her theory. 'In June, I got sick,' she started.

'I don't think this has anything to do with that,' Jim commented softly. 'You might have appendicitis. Brian and I saw something like this at college…'

Shaking her head only made the spots before her eyes turn in lazy circles. Realising she probably needed a drink, she asked, 'could you get me some water, please.'

Helping Trix to sit, Jim noticed each time she winced. He held the half full tin to her lips. Allowing him to treat her like a patient, made Jim feel useful and easier to manage. After several mouthfuls, Trixie pushed his hand way.

'I think I'm pregnant,' Trixie realised dropping this bombshell might be easier than a gentle explanation. 'I think it happened the day we heard the noise and took that long bath in July.'

'How,' Jim questioned with incredulity, 'we've been so careful. You've had your period every month. Surely we would have known before this.'

'When I got sick at the end of June,' she started to explain. A wave of fatigue swept over Trixie and she had to lie down. Jim remained frozen in his position at her side. 'I think it mucked up my cycle. I had my period as usual at the start of July. The change in my mucus that tells me when I'm fertile didn't really happen that month. I made us take a two week break just after we heard that noise to make sure. When everything seemed normal at the start of August, I didn't worry about it anymore.'

'I remember,' Jim choked. 'At the time I thought you were being paranoid. What changed you mind, Trix,' he asked, wondering how she seemed so sure.

'My periods have been lasting less time and the bleeding is lighter,' Trixie explained the logical sequence she discovered now making sense. Talking about the situation held her fear at bay. 'It makes sense if we made a baby back in July. When Mom and I were arguing so much, I'd do my research about the consequences of becoming sexually active at the local library on the computers so she couldn't see what websites I looked at. I never wanted to be one of the good girls who got caught so I made sure I knew my options. Being down here with you, I didn't plan on the rhythm method, even if I did learn about it.'

'Just before we were taken,' Jim moved closer, his voice low and thoughtful. Taking Trixie's head, he moved it onto his lap. 'I did a course on counselling teenagers engaging in sex and the repercussions of their choices. I thought I'd need it for health education.'

'What did you learn,' Trixie asked, hoping the syllabus covered emergency birth. Swallowing hard, she almost missed Jim's next words.

'Some women, a very few can go a whole pregnancy without any symptoms, including loss of menstruation,' he remarked. 'Trix it's not the physical side many of the young mothers have trouble coping with, it's the emotional repercussions. I didn't get to that part of the course,' Jim admitted.

'I didn't think I'd be a teenaged mother,' Trixie responded sadly.

Finding a glimmer of humour in the situation, Jim remarked, 'well, at least I'm not going to be a teen father.'

The joke fell flat as the ramifications of his statement finally hit home. A frown marred his otherwise hansom face. This had been his biggest fear for some time now. He didn't know how they'd cope let alone how he felt about this situation.

'You're sure it's not something else, Trix,' Jim asked with a hint of desperation in his tone. 'Surly you'd have some signs before, what,' counting the months on his hands he came up with, 'somewhere between three and four months.'

'We've relied on tracking my period as an indicator of pregnancy. I think I've been experiencing some signs but ignored them. Now they've come back to bit me on the butt big time,' Trixie observed in a mournful tone. 'That's not true,' she amended, 'I've had symptoms, I just mistook them because I knew how safe we've been.'

'How…how do you feel about this, Trix,' Jim uttered through the lump in his throat.

'I'm not sure,' she answered lowly. 'I haven't had time to process it. I could be wrong.'

'But you don't believe you are,' Jim watched her face in the diffuse light. Trixie's pained expression spoke volumes. 'Between pregnancy and appendicitis, I'll take the former,' Jim tried to see the bright side of the situation, 'at least it's not a medical emergency. Let's wait and see what happens in the next few days.'

They lay together, silent in contemplation. The pain in Trixie's abdomen continued to plague her most of the night. The intensity nowhere near the initial attack, she still couldn't lay completely straight. Eventually they fell into an exhausted sleep.

The morning brought stiffness and sore sensation. Able to stand, Trixie could manage the pulling, stretching feeling which assaulted her abdomen as she took each step. Realising Jim watched her carefully she tried not to show her discomfort. It actually eased as the day progressed, although she didn't feel like doing any heavy lifting. Trixie watched Jim complete all the chores, demanding she rest.

An uneasy truce existed between them. By mutual consent neither mentioned Trixie's expected period or the meaning behind it not appearing on time. After a week of Jim's cautiousness, Trixie found herself frustrated at the limits he'd set. She'd been relegated to recuperating patient and chafed at the restrictions.

Stalking over to him, she tapped her husband on the shoulder. A determined expression on her features, Trixie decided the time had come to face the facts. They needed to talk about the white elephant sitting in the middle of the Hell Hole.

'Do you know how to deliver a baby, Jim,' Trixie asked, fear starting to form in the back of her mind. Eye's wide at her shock tactics, he shook his head. 'I don't think we can fool ourselves any longer. That pain last week had something to do with my internal organs stretching to cope with our growing child.'

'I guessed as much,' Jim stammered. 'I don't know how I feel about this Trix. What's done, we can't undo, so we just have to cope with it. I need you to tell me how you feel. You haven't said a word since…' swallowing hard, he tried to express the myriad of thoughts running rampant in his mind. 'I haven't stopped thinking about it, about the consequences for all of us. How are we going to cope? What if something goes wrong?'

'I'm seven years older than Bobby,' Trixie stated, feeling on safer ground. 'Mom had all of us help her out a lot. I know it's a long time ago but I still remember. Then Honey and I volunteered at the Sleepyside Hospital a few years back. I got stuck in the maternity wards.' Pausing to collect her thoughts, Trix drew in a shape breath. 'We can get through this. I don't know what we're going to use for dippers or clothing, but we've managed to stay alive down here this long, I'm sure we can make it through this.'

Taking Jim's hand, Trixie placed it in hers. 'Promise me you won't try anything stupid, like climbing out of here in the middle of winter,' she pleaded, watching the calculating going on behind Jim's green orbs. Reminding him of his duty, to more than herself now, she rested their entwined fingers on her slightly rounded belly. 'If you left me, or got hurt…'

'We need to get out of here more than ever,' Jim stated.

'And go where?' Trixie asked, 'we don't even know how close it is to the nearest town, or the direction to choose once we make it to the top. The winter is coming fast. You know how cold October gets down here, it might be worse up there without shelter. What about proper camping supplies, we'd freeze to death if someone doesn't find us within a day or two.'

'We have to do something, Shamus,' Jim pleaded. He reacted on pure instinct and not logic. 'It won't be long before you're physically unable to get out of here. Since that night, I realised how big you're getting around the waist. By the time the snow's melted next year, we might have another life to consider. I don't want to bring a child into this Hell we're living.'

'What choice do we really have,' Trixie found tears streaking her face. This emotional display came courtesy of her raging hormones.

'None,' he agreed, anger lacing his words.


	4. Chapter 4

_One week_, Jim's mind still couldn't comprehend the changes, _up until one week ago we lived this peaceful existence. I thought I'd lost my lover, my wife to some illness I couldn't do anything about and it made me feel so helpless, powerless over our fate._

_She's pregnant_, it sounded like an accusation in Jim's mind_. Trixie's with child. We've got a bun in the oven. No matter how you look at it we've been completely irresponsible given the situation. Our peace has been shattered by a truth both of us suspected had to happen with the amount of time we're spending alone in this Hell Hole. Why did we have start sleeping together when we knew the consequences, no matter how careful we've been?_

Sighing deeply, a habit he'd taken to recently, Jim attempted to stop the incriminations running through his head. He couldn't, they consumed him day and night. Watering the plants reminded him of the essence he'd poured into Trixie, in to his wife every time they shared their passion for each other. He hated his weakness, his giving in to his biological and hormonal needs.

_I should have known better_, he mind refused to stop. Watching the tins containing their winter garden, the train of thought came unbidden_. Like a seed, we planted our child in fertile soil and it sprouted. Before we know, it'll be time to harvest it. Then what are we going to do? I don't know the first thing about babies or how to care for them. I'm so frightened. Scared I won't be able to cope with such monumental changes_. Concluding this to be entirely his fault, Mr James Winthrop Frayne's anger wouldn't stop building as he continued to mount the blame squarely on his shoulders.

The day passed in which he didn't say another word to Trixie. His look said enough. You wanted me to face the White Elephant, Trixie, it accused, now you have to live with the consequences.

That night, instead of cuddling up, they lay back to back. Until this morning, Jim managed to ignore the issue, to overlook the slight swelling in his wife's belly. No longer able to deny the truth, he couldn't allow himself to touch her or he'd be too weak to stop at a single caress. Although he knew the damage to be done, Jim waited until Trixie slept before going to his bed. Finding it easier to disregard his need to be close, he lay down. Sleep didn't come easily or quickly as his mind continued to accuse him.

The chasm between them open, it deepened and became wider as the days past. Jim felt the bond erode with each recriminating look or lack of an intimate gesture. A week after their argument, his temper finally reached boiling point. Looking around the Hell Hole to establish Trixie's position, he became deathly still.

Crouched beside the stream, Trixie looked deeply into her reflection as though it could answer all her questions. Dressed in her BWG jacket and jeans, she started wearing clothes again. He missed seeing her naked body and the closeness it generated between them. The protective layer provided yet another barrier between them.

Shriving, not from the cold, at least not the temperature in the air, Trixie pulled the jacked closer in an attempt to get warm. Aware of Jim's scrutiny from the other side of the hole, Trixie realised her need came from the icy stares Jim levelled at her. Somehow those gazes, once heating her blood to boiling with a need for her husband, turned into shivers of apprehension. Now, a single look from Jim turned her blood to ice in her veins and made her feel worthless, cheap and abandoned.

Trying to understand his point of view became difficult as he continued the silent treatment. _This is not all my fault_, Trixie lamented for perhaps the millionth time, _it takes two to tango. I didn't set out to get pregnant and I didn't do it by myself. If only Jim would come over here, sit down beside me and we could talk about it. Jim's the one who's always said we need to communicate because we only have each other and I need to talk about this. The moment a BIG problem hits us, he turns inward and refuses to face it._

Feeling depressed, she'd refused to help in any way, leaving Jim to do all the chores. Strangely, since they'd discovered her pregnancy, Trixie became listless. All her energy seemed to be consumed coping with the negative vibes, both emanating from Jim and internally created. Just as Jim blamed himself for the situation, as he discovered his fear, so too Trixie uncovered hers.

As each day past, she'd notice new changes to her body. The slight queasiness she felt most mornings but couldn't understand cleared up. The occasional bout of light headedness she attributed to her June head cold ceased. Trixie's belly expanded beyond her ability to wear her jeans without the fly button open. Occasionally she felt a slight fluttering, like butterfly wings against her naval.

Wanting to share this with Jim, the abandonment increased her trepidation. Reproachful looks caused Trixie to keep her physical distance from her husband. Pretending to sleep at night, more tears came as Jim lay beside her, not touching her, ridged in his anger. That more than any other action bespoke is disappointment to Trixie.

_I wish you were here Moms,_ she silently cried, no longer able contain her tears during the day. Then Trixie remembered a stray thought from early in their enforced captivity. _Spending almost every waking moment in each other's company, Trixie's understanding of his character improved. Patient, tenacious and careful, people assumed Jim's temper to be quick, because of his colouring. It wasn't even close to the truth. Jim simmered for a long time before finally losing emotional control. When he did, James Frayne became contrite almost immediately, disappointed with himself at his expression of internal irritation. Trixie wondered how much of his personality came from the years he'd spent under the supervision of his stepfather._ The realisation hit her as suddenly as the memory assaulting her conscious. Understanding Jim's dilemma didn't make it any easier to cope with, or easier to forgive.

_I need you now, Jim_, Trixie silently cried, _and I need you to need me. You have to come to me of your own free will or this is a hurdle we won't be able to surmount and our relationship…we won't be able to salvage what's left._

Jim, watching the play of emotions across Trixie's face, suddenly stopped his internal recriminations. His heart took a beat of two more before the expression of loss and disappointments on Trixie's face finally registered. _I'm angry, so angry, but not at you, Trixie_, Jim realised he hadn't told her. _I can't believe I'm falling back into old habits the moment an issue I can't solve comes up. Did my time with Jonesy affect me more than I've ever realised and I'm still carrying around the scars? I've been so self-absorbed, so self-centred, can you ever forgive me Shamus._

The moment of clarity changed Jim's life forever. Forcing his feet to move, he started toward the woman he loved. The sorrow in every step asked forgiveness. Feeling the change in the atmosphere, Trixie looked up. Instantly she felt the change in him, between them. Blue eyes accepted the unstated apology.

Scooping her into his arms, Jim carried Trixie into the sleeping cave. Unable to stop, he lay down with her, cradling her body. Entwined, they promised to talk later. For now, this closeness, the intimacy, the desire to loose themselves in each other took over. Closing the gap, Trixie's lips touched Jim's. His tongue immediately demanded entry. Her clothes soon disregarded as hands stroked, pleasured, demanded the divide separating them be closed for ever.

Their passion didn't take long to satisfy. In the afterglow, Jim spooned his wife's body, fingers entwined and resting on Trixie's ever expanding belly. Laying a gentle kiss on her golden locks, he pulled her closer.

'I'm sorry,' he stated mournfully.

'I know,' Trixie answered. 'Don't ever do that to me again, Jim.'

'I can't make that promise,' he replied honestly. 'I thought that part of my life no longer affected us. It's taken this to realise I'm not as healed as I thought.'

'Yes,' Trixie gently reprimanded, 'you have healed from the shame. It's your behaviour that's still affected. How you cope with fear and resentment caused you to treat me horribly and that affected us. You said we needed to talk to each other. I need you to tell me how you feel, Jim or at least your thoughts. If we can't communicate, our relationship suffers. I've felt so abandoned, so worthless, as if you blame me for this situation when we did this together.'

Levering himself onto one arm, Jim towered above her. 'I'm angry at the situation, Trix,' he confessed, 'not you. Your…our pregnancy scared the life out of me. What if something happens to you? I…I couldn't face life down here without you. Without professional help we've no idea if there will be any complications? What if no one comes to rescue us in time? How are we going to cope with a child?'

'I wish I could talk to Moms,' Trixie mourned the loss of her parent, now more than ever. 'While she might be angry with us, at least Moms has experience with these things.'

'This is my entire fault,' Jim didn't know how to stop, even though he wanted too, desperately. 'If I could stop blaming myself, my lack of control, my inability to protect you, I wouldn't have pushed you away. I never meant too.'

'Jim,' rebuked Trixie, 'stop, stop it right now. We're in this together. We'll cope with whatever happens, as a team. That's what being married is all about. Don't think of your mother's second marriage and all the bad things that happened. Try to remember how your parents and mine might cope with this.'

Nodding he returned to his position at her back. 'I think your parents did,' Jim attempted to recall the story.

'They had each other,' Trixie reminded, 'and three children in three years. Mom coped, not easily or without problems, but she coped. I never heard my father once complain because he loves Moms and he always said, with love you can conquer anything.'

'You really believe that, Trix,' Jim asked in an astounded tone.

'I've loved you enough from the day I met you,' she answered in a level voice, 'to know we'd be able to weather anything if you felt the same way about me.'

'I've haven't lived up to your expectation so far,' the words out before Jim's conscious managed to filter them.

'You're here with me now,' Trixie commented, a smile on her face for the first time in two weeks. 'The rest we'll work out. We did this together, Jim. This child is part of me and part of you, our responsibility.'

Stroking her belly, Jim felt a calmness he'd rarely felt descend. Green eyes looked past the physical realm, into Trixie's soul. 'I know our son's going to be just like his mother.'

'How do you know it's not going to be a girl,' Trixie asked, stunned by his sudden capitulation. She still felt frightened by the massive task before her, yet the burden she'd been under this last week lifted, making Trix feel lighter. Sharing her problems, their problems and reservations, didn't make them magically disappear, just easier to cope with.

'I just know,' Jim smiled, 'and we're going to name him James Winthrop Frayne III.'

'We are?' the sarcasm in Trixie's voice tempered with delight at the change in his attitude. Jim's hand stroking her belly made its way lower, helping ease the tension left between them. 'Don't I get a say, after all I'm the one carrying this baby for nine months.'

'Not in this,' Jim laughed, finding the erogenous zone his finger sort. 'A father has to have some privileges, but we'll use the pet name you give him.'

'I think we'll call it,' Trixie teased, closing her eyes at the pleasure created so quickly. She'd missed this, missed Jim's easy sexuality and her response to it. They'd become incredible compatible, understanding the others needs with only a glance. 'Jamie, that way if it's a girl you won't be disappointed.'

'As long as this child is ours,' Jim stated vehemently, halting his ministrations. Moving to roll Trix onto her back, he placed her into the position he need to continue his physical assault on her body. 'I'll never be disappointed. I'm not going to pretend I wanted you all to myself for a few years before this happened. Now it has, I've made my peace, Trix.'

'Good,' Trixie's eyes held that look he loved, 'and now we don't have to stop twice a month to be careful, you've got a couple weeks to make up for.'

'My pleasure,' Jim's voice became muffled. His tongue darted out to kiss the most sensitive spot between her lower lips. Allowing her hands to tangle in his long heir, Trixie relaxed, enjoying the makeup session. Feeling melded to her husband, she wondered if the last two weeks had been a bad dream.

Reading her mind, Jim did that thing with his long, subtle fingers she loved. 'I'm never going to let something like this get between us again,' he promised before returning to his self-appointed task. _This time_, Jim promised, too taken by his mission to tell her in words, _it's all about you, Trix, all for you. By the time I'm finished you'll be boneless with pleasure to make up for all the hurt we've gone through. I'm going to take it so slow, neither one of us will know where we finish and the other starts._


	5. Chapter 5

AN – What happened to the rest of the Bob Whites you may ask. We catch up with them is this chapter. The emphasis, as you've probably come to realise is on Mart and Honey. Yes there is a reason but you'll just have to wait until the next book to find out what. Oh, and I have plans for Matthew Wheeler and Brian Belden too….maybe even Di's "secret" will play a vital role. For those of you reading any of my work (yes including Bones and X files) you'll know there's always a reason for everything, you just have to be patient to find out why.

* * *

'Well,' Honey questioned with a raised eyebrow. She'd been standing by her parents' side for three hours. The voting booths closed at six pm eastern standard time. The media representatives took the odd shot as the counting continued and the people of New York State waited to find out who'd won.

'Jury's still out,' Matthew answered, a very slight smile upturning the corners of his lips, 'but initial indications are…not good.'

'We always knew it'd go down to the wire,' his wife responded drily, 'with the history surrounding this election. The previous Senator being impeached for conduct unbecoming (yes this is a real fact. The election took place on 10th November 2010). In another hour we should have a provincial result.'

'In another hour, counting will stop for the night,' Matthew reminded, 'then any celebrations or commiseration parties will have to be postponed, even if my opposition is claiming victory as we stand here.'

'Such a shame,' Honey's sense of humour became darker with her deepening romantic relationship and entry into college. Exposed to the public for eighteen months, Mart with his career exponentially expanding, she'd become jaded by the attention her father's campaign attracted and the continuing fight to keep Trixie and Jim's abduction current. Studying American Politics to one day become a senior advisor to her father in his new endeavour she'd learnt the value of irony. 'Wasting all this,' Honey indicated the plush surrounding of the hotel ballroom engaged for the night and the loyal supporters standing by.

'Quite right,' Mart chimed in his best Oxford accent.

Unsure how his presence might affect the ultimate outcome, he stayed out of the limelight to give the media the "family" photos they craved. Besides, he hated the attention Trixie and Jim's abduction still drew thanks to Honey and his continuing campaign. Three weeks in the dorms at Columbia, both he and Dan returned to their old rooms across the hall from the Wheeler's penthouse apartment for peace.

Dan didn't need the fame for the sting of girlfriends he attracted, his looks and toned body did that. However his involvement with the mysteries surrounding the Bob Whites gave him certain kudos with his lectures. They applauded his dedication to a pre law degree, understanding the need that drove the young man, several offering help to secure scholarships towards his further studies.

Signalling to the wait staff, Matthew requested the celebratory champagne be passed around. 'If I could have your attention,' Matthew called out to the thousand odd people in the crowd, many with glasses in their hands. Conversation stopped as all eyes in the room turned toward the dais. Several cameramen hoisted their heavy equipment onto their shoulders, waiting the moment the would-be Senator claimed victory.

'My family and I would like you to join us in a salute to all the hard work and tenacity which has gone into this campaign.' He held up a flute, waiting until every person in the room also held a glass. 'Win or lose,' Matthew toasted, 'tonight my daughter Madeline, my wife Grace and I give thanks to each and every one of you for your loyalty and support. Whatever the outcome, we have run a good race. Now we place our faith in the munificence of the America People. Please join us to celebrate the end of this campaign as we wait to establish who will become our states next Senator.'

Mart slunk back into crowd to join his brother and friends. Brian's time became very precious with his change in major. He'd taken three courses over the summer semester while working and excelled at everything he did. Continuing his traineeship, the eldest Belden divided his time between college and the NYPD crime labs, giving him back his enjoyment in life.

'Good to see you could make it,' Mart teased. Living in the same apartment, the brothers rarely saw each other.

'Hard to stop the crime in this city,' Brian grinned, 'but the boss let me off the graveyard shift tonight for this very special party.'

'I bet you see some really gory stuff at work,' Di shivered.

Missy placed an arm about her lover's shoulders in support. They managed to catch up twice a month when Di came down to New York. Missy's six nights a week performance trapping her permanently in the city. Normally the other Bob Whites left the couple to their own devices on the rare occasions they saw each other, communicating with their friend through e-mail and phone calls.

'Yes,' Brian agreed easily, 'at first it disturbed me. I guess you get to a point where you can't be surprised by the depravity of the human mind. It kind of helps to understand the reason behind Smithy's actions.'

'What,' Missy, usually very quiet, joined the conversation, 'you're telling me you understand the motivations for your sister's abduction. Even as an actress, I sometimes find it hard to get into character. I don't think I could, with someone like that.'

Brian looked to Mart and Dan over the girl's heads. 'Yes,' they coursed together.

'I've done a lot of research into the Cartel behind Trixie and Jim kidnapping,' Mart explained. 'Smithy is as much a victim as our siblings.'

'Not,' Brian added with rancour, 'that we forgive him.'

'I'll never forgive that man,' Di's lavender eyes turned a stormy grey. 'The hurt he's caused all of us and our families. That first year at school was murderous. Sometimes, even at college, people ask me about it or offer their own opinion.'

'We all still get that,' Mart mourned, 'and will while Honey and I continue to keep it as fresh as possible.'

'I'm sure we understand why,' Dan added.

The quiet and introspective group raised their glassed in an unspoken toast. 'Trixie and Jim,' they whispered. Mart's eyes went to the dais and his girlfriend. Honey's reaction ensuring him she knew exactly what they discussed. Holding up her glass, she took a sip in silent acknowledgment.

'At one point,' Brian spoke softly into his brother's ear, a devious grin covering his face, 'I thought it would be me at her side, but this,' he nodded his head in Honey's direction, 'worked out much better. None of us really believed it at first.'

'You better believe that,' Di laughed easily, linking her arm about Missy's waist. 'Until Mart and I went on those dates when I turned sixteen, I'd imagined white wedding dresses and happily ever after. When you kissed me, I'm afraid I wanted a princess, not the prince.'

'I'd never describe my brother as a prince,' Brian joined in the merriment at Mart expense.

Given them all a sour look, Mart's sarcastic humour made him ask, 'so you all think I'm the frog.'

'More like toad,' Dan added.

Their ability to laugh and joke openly displayed how far they'd all come since the dark days of Trixie and Jim's abduction. Life without their friends would never be completely normal. They'd learnt to move on as they each found acceptance in their hearts. However, none of them stopped working towards one day having their siblings and the remaining Bob Whites returned to them.

'Well,' Mart took the vibrating cell out of his pocket, 'this toad has to take this call. Sorry,' he stuck his finger in the opposite ear as he exited the room.

'I can't believe he's a published journalist,' Missy shook her head, 'at his age. The quality of his articles, they show a depth and maturity of his work, it's astounding.'

'Not really,' Di looked towards her girlfriend, 'when you consider what we've all been through. It's changed us, all of us in very different ways.'

'I just wonder,' Dan piped in, 'how Jim and Trix have coped with whatever they're going through.'

'Mart still believes,' Honey managed to slip her parents and the media for a minute to join her friends, 'that their alive and living somewhere they can't escape. He feels Trix's echo in his head but said she's having a really hard time at the moment. He won't say more, even to me but Mart's made comments about the state of their relationship.'

'If they are together,' Dan made a motion with is hand letting everyone know he actually meant in a romantic and intimate way, 'they've got to be extremely careful.'

'I believe,' Honey sighed as her father called her back. Mart at his side, she knew the outcome of the election by the expression on his face, 'that's my significant others major fear.'

'I've just had the phone call,' Mart whispered in Matthew's ear. A source within the electoral committee, paying back a favour, gave him the early result.

Unable to hide his anxiety, Matthew Wheeler levelled a withering stare at the young man. Mart just grinned, enjoying the hard earned moment. 'Well,' Matthew demanded.

'Late swing,' Mart hedged, 'seems we won't need to wait until morning as there's a clear winner.' Pausing to give Matthew a moment to process his comment, the man speared him with twin green laser beams from his orbs. 'You're in by three precent. With the number of votes counted, Senator, you'll be sitting in D.C. as of the new year.'

'Let's keep this between ourselves for the moment,' Matt allowed a smirk. The immediate change in his body language alerted both his wife and daughter to the information.

'Couldn't agree more,' Mart managed to keep a neutral expression on his face. 'It makes your opposition look…foolish and insincere. I also have it on good authority your speech went down very well. Several syndicated networks have been playing it continuously to rave responses.'

'Let's hope we can keep the public's attention,' Matthew answered, moving off to speak with yet another volunteer who helped him achieve his goal.

'You've made someone very happy,' Honey whispered into Mart's ear.

'How much longer,' he asked in a voice filled with longing, 'until we can slip this party and move it to a more private location.'

'Midnight,' she returned, 'earliest. However, it'd be a great shame to waist the next two hours with that music playing and an almost empty dance floor.'

Holding out his hand in a gallant gesture, Mart indicated Miss Madeline Wheeler should take the offered favour. The moment his hand closed over hers, Martin Belden, very aware of the location of several cameramen and photographers, brought his girlfriend's knuckles to his lips. Leading her onto the floor, he took up an old fashioned waltz pose. Awaiting the moment, he took his first step to the strains of 'May I have this dance?'

'Trying to tell me something?' Honey's questioned. Her eye's twinkled as her face lit up the room with a bright smile. Resting her head on Mart's shoulder, she mouthed the lyrics.

_Could I have this dance for the rest of my life  
Would you be my partner every night  
When we're together it feels so right _

'Are you propositioning me Miss Wheeler,' Mart teased, his grin matching that of his dance partner.

'Do I need too,' Honey returned with a raised eyebrow.

'Once your parents have moved to D.C.,' Mart promised, 'we'll be able to be "partners every night". With Di away at College, it'll only be you in that great big apartment. Much better if you move in with your male counterparts across the hall. Of course, you'll have to share a bedroom as there's only three and their currently taken.'

'Do I get to choose?' she goaded.

'Yes,' Mart held on to the last syllable in mock anger, 'as long as it's mine. I have plans for you.'

Laughing, Honey rebuked, 'that's all you men ever think about.'

'I'm nineteen, in a committed monogamous relationship, have raging male hormones,' he mocked, 'and haven't seen much of my girlfriend for the last two months because her father's been monopolising her time.'

'Poor baby,' Honey's fake tone proved anything but understanding. Tilting head up, she whispered, 'promise I'll make it worth your while once we get back to your apartment.'

'I'll keep you to that,' Mart laid his cheek on the top of her head.

Their night didn't end until almost three, when the last of the "guests" finally left the party. Several media representatives received the same news Mart managed to uncover, turning it to an impromptu celebration. The Wheeler family used the attention to their advantage.

'Sorry I spoilt your fun,' Matthew smirked at the young lovers sharing the limousine back to the penthouse. The media attention ensured they'd behaved with propriety but couldn't wait to get back the privacy of Mart's room. While his daughter hid her disappointment well, the young man's face openly displayed his frustration.

'As a reward,' Madeline added, daring her husband to disagree. The scowl on his face meant he'd read and disapproved of her plan. 'You'll stay with us tonight Mart. Just make sure you're private celebration remains inaudible to the rest of the household. Matthew and I have an early press conference latter this morning.'

Mart ensured his article made the front page of New York's most widely read newspaper. Accompanied by a family photo, few knew the slightly sarcastic comments preceded the election result by twenty four hours. Positive Matthew Wheeler would win the vote he'd arranged the commentary to shed a constructive light on the new Senator.

Buried in the social section, a second piece commented on his choice of song when leading the new Senator's Daughter out onto the dance floor, cementing him as an ongoing part of the Wheeler clan. The same photographer had been given instructions. He'd shot the frame the moment Mart kissed Honey's hand. Irony in the article suggested an understanding between the young couple brought about by the loss of their siblings. Mart used every method at his disposal to ensure his sisters safe return and the continuation of his relationship with Honey.

'I have plans for you,' he whispered over her sleeping form, adding silently in his head, 'future Mrs Martin Belden.'

'Don't expect me to give up my name completely,' Honey muttered sleepily. In the last year, she'd come to understand her significant other completely. 'I'll be using Belden-Wheeler so my father's name isn't completely lost in the next generation.'

'Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren't you, Miss Wheeler,' Mart rebuked.

'If you don't use that mouth for something more,' Honey demanded, 'I'm going back to sleep. By the way, I loved the article, both of them.'

Astounded, Mart asked, 'when did you read it?'

'You're not the only one with contacts,' Honey teased, climbing on top of her boyfriend, 'the editor ran it past me before publication.'

'The day you finish college, Honey Wheeler, your mine,' Mart grinned, deciding foreplay could be dispensed with this time around.

'I thought I already was,' she returned, joining them completely.


	6. Chapter 6

AN – sorry to those who find same gender relationships distasteful. I aim to write about current and possibly controversial topics – especially in this story. Teen sex and pregnancy are becoming a huge issue in Australia and I'm trying to do my bit by educating through non-fiction. As to gender roles, there will be a method in my madness but I will attempt to keep the relationship to an absolute minimum. I would hate to feel I'd upset anyone. I'd love it if anyone could give me specific reasons for their surprise at Di's relationship choice in this story (I am very curious by nature).

'It's almost thanks giving time again,' Jim stated as he stirred the soup in the cooking pot. The bitter cold day didn't allow them the pleasure of getting out into the hole for any length of time. Winter came hard and fast this year, trapping Jim and Trixie in or near the cave for most of the day.

'We've got a lot to be thankful,' Trixie reminded him. Absent mindedly rubbing her ever expanding belly, a smile lit her face. They'd spent hours talking about the new life, mostly discussing their fears and making plans. Between them, without the aid of modern technology, they knew about enough to fill three pages of a note book.

'I'm thankful we have some kind of plan for Jamie's arrival,' Jim stated. 'I'm still unsure how we're going to get through the birth. I guess we'll just have to let nature take its course.'

'There's months until we have to face that,' Trixie preferred to concentrate on the here and now.

'It'll be here sooner than we think,' Jim reminded, 'and it really worries me, Trix.'

'I feel great at the moment,' she grinned, attempting to stop her husband dwelling on the future. As much as Jim tried to change his behaviour, the protective streak still remained. At times it drove Trixie to distraction. She understood Jim really said "I love you" with each overzealous action. 'Right now I'm thankful for that.' Cheekily she added, 'especially the full night's sleep. I remember some of the new mothers at Sleepyside Hospital talking about having to get up lots of times during the night in the month before they gave birth.'

'Guess it's the bodies way of getting you use to being up several time to feed your baby,' Jim commented. 'Even though I want too, I can't help with that. I remember once we had an orphan calf. I must have been eight or nine, just before Dad got sick. I set the alarm every three hours overnight to feed him. Dad didn't need to help but he got up with me, even though he had to go to work the next morning. Mom oversaw the day feedings.'

Fascinated, Trixie asked, 'what happened?'

'He passed away,' Jim stated sadly, 'we never knew why but I suspect he'd been born to young. I helped dad dig a hole and we buried him.' Allowing the silence to fill several minutes, he finally smiled, 'I'd forgotten about that. It's probably the last memory I have of my father before he became too ill to do anything with me.'

'It'll be dusk soon,' Jim commented quietly, not wanting to continue the melancholy memories of his father's rapid demise. Recollections of his birth parents came easier as Jim concentrated on the happiest part of his life and tried to forget Jonesy's influence. His talk with Trixie about the power of love had been cathartic. 'I'd like to stay out and watch tonight. I think we might be in for a change in the weather. Hopefully, we get a big storm soon.'

Looking at him as if mad, Trixie spluttered, 'you want a storm? After what happened last year?'

Laughing at her reaction, Jim explained, 'our meat supply is running low. Another deer and some smaller animals falling into the hole over winter would be good. You're going to need protein for breast feeding when Jamie arrives.'

'That's the part of this I hate the most,' the timber of Trixie's voice changed. 'I don't have any options. Not like I would if we were home.'

Jim asked, 'what would you do differently?'

So far they hadn't asked the what if questions. Intrigued by her statement, Jim wanted to know. Taking like this gave him new respect for his wife. Giving Trixie time to think, he sat silently at her side and ate his evening meal.

'This wouldn't have happened at home,' determination echoed in her voice. 'I would have insisted you use condoms and I'd be on contraceptives just to make sure. I wanted you and I wanted to make love to you. I never wanted this.'

'Really,' Jim seemed shocked, although he didn't know why. Trixie really had done her homework, determined not to end up in the same situation as her parents.

Nodding, she continued in a low voice. 'It's not that I didn't want kids. I just wanted them with you. I thought it'd happen sometime in the future, after college and when we'd both started on our careers. Now it's real, we've both come to terms with it and I have to deal. I can only ever remember Mom's breast feeding Bobby. She looked down on mothers who used formula or a bottle, so I never really thought about any other way. Besides everyone knows it the best for a baby,' lifting her face up to Jim, Trixie spoke from the heart, 'I've spent hours trying to remember any little thing to do with newborns. I've come to the conclusion that instinct will have to guide us. We don't have a library, or parents and friends to call on. Women have been going this for centuries,' shrugging her shoulders which demonstrated Trixie's distress more effectively than her tone, she continued, 'without the help of doctors and hospitals. I'm sure there are places in the world right now, where a woman is giving birth to her child without any help.'

'I'm still scared,' Jim confessed. 'Every time I think about it, all I can see is you in pain and we don't even have a Tylenol. You know I've never been one to watch much TV, but your brother got addicted to several medical dramas in his first semester as college. Some other pre-med students came around and they discussed what would really happen, pointing out the error or inconsistence in TV dramas.'

'Brian,' Trixie sounded surprised, 'watching trashy TV.'

'You better believe it,' Jim nodded, a delighted smile playing about his face. 'I remember one,' a serious expression replaced the joviality, 'when a woman went into labour in a barn.' Shaking his head, Jim couldn't recall a great deal 'Brian scoffed at the delivery, saying you need to twist the kid's shoulders on the way out and who'd have a camera on hand at that moment, much less think to film it. I guess I'll know what to do when I see it, not that I feel any less anxiety.'

'Me too,' Trixie's smile turned sad, 'but playing the "what if" game won't help. I'm going to take each day as it comes, and enjoy it the best way we can. I need you, Jim. I need you beside me, to have faith in me when I don't and to be strong when I'm not.'

'That goes both ways, Shamus,' he echoed, a melancholy smile twitching his lips. 'We've only got each other.'

'I love you,' Trixie whispered, laying her bowl on a rock. Leaning into her husband's warm and welcoming embrace, she didn't need to say more. The gentle kiss he placed on Trixie's crown emanated with the emotion. Together they stayed to watch the glowing orb disappear over the rim of the Hell Hole. Dusk became a display of red clouds in a deepening sky. It foretold warmer weather in the coming days. After such a spell, they could expect a thunderstorm and howling winds.

The middle of December brought the storm Jim wanted. The cold snap afterward keeping him in suspense until the snow and ice on the ground melted in spring. Somehow he knew they'd find enough protein to survive yet another year down here. In his heart, he wished for someone to find them. In his mind, Jim knew next June or July became their best hope. Some annual event must be run in the area surrounding the Hell Hole. He had months to work out a way to get them rescued.

Jamie weighed about a pound as the year came to an end. Able to move little limbs, the child began to protest at the limited space in its mother's womb. Trixie spent an uncomfortable night, tossing and turning as the butterfly movements she experienced for the last couple of weeks increased in frequency and intensity. The multiple bathroom breaks she now needed became painful as she attempted not to wake Jim several times each night.

'Jim,' she muttered after lying awake for several hours. Unable to find a comfortable position, Trixie sat with her back against the cave wall.

'What, Trix,' he answered, sleepily.

Taking his hand, she felt around until she could feel the gentle movements on the outside of her womb. Placing Jim's fingers over his mobile child, she couldn't help the smile. Her husband's sharply inhaled breath his only response, she knew the moment he felt it too.

'I've only realised what it is,' Trixie explained, 'and I wanted you to experience with me.'

'Amazing,' Jim muttered while sitting up. Pulling himself next to Trixie, he didn't let his hand drop from her extended belly. Finally he felt a connection to his child. Until this moment, the baby had been an academic construct. With that first movement, Jamie became a reality. 'That's our little guy in there,' he rubbed, hoping to feel the motion again.

Disappointment coloured Jim's sigh five minutes later. For whatever reason, Jamie chose not to move again. Turning to face her husband, Trixie had to work not to laugh at his expression.

'If a touch from its father can make it sleep,' she teased, 'I'm going to take it while I can.' A yawn escaped her. Taking the opportunity, Trixie slid back onto their sleeping mat. 'I only hope you can do the same after it comes out.'

'As long as both of you are safe,' Jim spoke quietly, aware Trixie's eyelids fluttered closed with exhaustion, 'I don't care.'

January and February tested Trixie's patients. No longer able to keep to two meals a day, she found herself with constant indigestion cured by many, frequent snacks. It placed a burden on their limited supplies. March brought cramps in her calf muscle that had Trixie in tears with the pain. Although Jim tried to massage the knots, noting worked. Feeling like a whale and as elegant as an elephant, Trixie constantly complained about her size. It made her feel uncomfortable all the time.

Then the dreams started. Actually they'd been plaguing her since Christmas but she'd been unable to remember them. These could only be termed night terrors. In one she left her child to starve, forgetting about it for days. Another stared a crying infant that increased its screams and she didn't know what to do. Yet another featured Jim yelling at her for being a hopeless mother. Realising her subconscious fears provided the raw material for her dreams didn't make Trixie feel any better.

'Push,' Jim demanded on the first day of April. Something within him said the time had come. They needed to get their child out now.

'I am,' Trixie gritted her teeth and shouted back. 'I've been pushing for days. You try getting something the size of a watermelon through a hole, well, not that big.'

'Come on Mrs Frayne,' Jim used her unofficial title which annoyed her lately, 'I can see his head and he's got bright red hair just like his dad.' The attempt to distract her didn't work. 'Your almost there, Trix,' he cooed, hoping the change in his tone brought about the final expulsion of his son. 'One more good push and you'll meet our little man.'

To the best of Jim's knowledge, his wife's labour started fifteen hours ago. Waking abruptly from an afternoon nap when her water broke, Trixie cried, thinking she messed herself. Neither had managed a wink of sleep overnight as Trixie couldn't stay still. She needed to walk as the pain grew closer together and more intense. An hour ago she demanded to sit in the bathing pool, again. They'd been hopping in and out the entire night to relieve the ache in her back and anxiety.

When her contractions started in earnest, Jim wanted her to get out of the water. She refused, point blank. Instead she squatted on the natural shelf, allowing Jim to remain in the pool and monitor her condition. The position relieved some of the pressure on her abdomen and provided the aid of gravity during the final stage of labour. Neither realised this pose would be impossible in a maternity hospital.

Three more pushes and the child slithered out covered in slimly red mucus. Not expecting the baby to be so slippery, Jim found his son unceremoniously plopping into the warm waters. Scooping him up quickly, the child protested with a weak cry. Holding him upside down, Jim checked his mouth, pulling out yet more of the snot like substance. His colour improved immediately. Crying in earnest, Jim made Trixie sit on the ledge and handed the infant to his mother keeping them both warm in the late spring dawn.

'A boy,' Jim exclaimed, getting for the supplies he'd placed within easy reach. Efficiently he tied the cord in two places before cutting it. He'd seen this on TV so many times before. Reality proved to be vastly different from the sanitised visual version. Suddenly remembering all the shows, he wondered where the other end of his son's umbilicus ended. Thanking Brian for making him watch all those dreadful medical series, Jim finally recalled the next step. 'Push, Trix,' Jim demanded, 'you still have to deliver the afterbirth.'

'I can't,' she wailed, 'I'm exhausted and just want to sleep. I don't think I even have the energy to get out of this pool.'

'Yes,' Jim encouraged in the softest voice he could muster, 'you do. You need to push and feed Jamie straight away. I think I remember something about stopping the bleeding and helping the uterus contract.'

'It…it,' Trixie groaned as another round of debilitating contractions hit her, delivering a large liver looking mass into Jim's waiting hands, 'helps bring the milk in.'

Sitting gingerly on the ledge, she allowed the warm waters to sooth her. Every muscle in her body protested the smallest movement. Never allowing her son out of her arms, Trixie lifted him slightly to the level of her breast. Bringing him towards her nipple she noticed his rooting response. Jamie's rosebud mouth opened as his head turned toward the source of sustenance. Something in Trixie's memory made her pinch her breast. Wanting to let him suckle, she remembered her mother's technique. Unable to wait, Jamie attached. It didn't feel right, but they had plenty of time to work it out.

'Happy,' Jim asked, slipping back into the pool after burying the placenta. Placing one hand around Trixie's shoulders, he touched his son's head reverently.

'Tried,' Trixie sighed, relaxing back into her husband's strong embrace.

'I think we both need some sleep,' he added.

'One thing I do remember,' Trixie couldn't hold back her yawn, 'babies wake up way too many times each night to be feed.'


	7. Chapter 7

AN – I hope this chapter answers some questions that my reviews have asked. If you'd like to know how Jim and Trix cope with something particular, please ask and I'll try to incorporate it into the story. (Although they migh not be in that hole much longer...Ops not supose to give that away!) Once again thank you to everyone who leaves a review.

I've returned to full time work as my baby is now at school so my posts might get slower. Don't worry I have plans to finish everything.

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'It hurts,' Trixie wailed, pushing her five day old son away.

'That's because,' Jim attempted to stay calm above the increasing wails of his child, 'you're nipples are cracked and bleeding. Without milk, Jamie will die, Trix. You have to feed him.'

'I can't,' the tears streamed down her face. Misery in every breath, 'I just can't' she sobbed. Turning away so she couldn't see the distress on either Jim or Jamie faces, Trixie curled into a ball of shear desolation.

'Trix,' Jim pleaded, hanging on to his temper by a thread, 'you're going to burst if you don't let Jamie feed. I bet you feel so full…'

'Don't make me, Jim,' she muttered, the words soft enough as to be barely audible.

Swearing under his breath, something he rarely did, Jim racked his mind for alternatives. If they could somehow get the milk out, he'd find a way to feed his son. He didn't blame Trixie. One look at her breasts and Jim could see how painful feeding their child must be. He'd tried soothing the cracks with some lard from the top of their cooking pot. It hadn't worked as affectively as Jim hoped.

Racking his brain for another idea, Jim cursed being trapped in this hole. _It's not like I can just go out to the store_, he berated. _I know bottles aren't an option but surely I can come up with something._ In desperation, Jim stuck his finger in Jamie's mouth. It would keep him quiet for at least fifteen seconds, until he realised nothing came out the end. He's seen Trix do the same thing to help Jamie sleep.

In that time, Jim came to a startling realisation. The child in his arms didn't suck, he kind of pulsated his father's finger with his tongue. Starting at the tip, a wave of muscle worked the digit to the end. Trying to recreate the movement within his mouth, the physics of the motion suddenly made sense. Recalling his younger childhood, the Frayne family took a holiday to a working farm. Jim and his father hand milked cows. The two facts linked in his brain, forming a solution.

'Trix,' he attempted just as Jamie started to howl again. The distress in her child's tone made her cry harder. He could see the agony it caused her. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his frayed nerves and spoke loudly, with as much compassion as he could muster. 'Maybe we need to try something else,' Jim reached out a hand to make her understand, he did this in an attempt to solve the situation. 'Maybe we're not putting enough into Jamie's mouth and he's damaging you without realising. It's your nipples that are cracked and it's not called nipple feeding.'

Something in his speech reached Trixie. A look of amazement came over her face as she attempted to stop the tear from falling. Reaching down she used her thumb and forefinger to pinch the end of her breast. Experimenting with the technique, she looked up at Jim, astonishment coloured her face. Holding out her other hand for Jamie, Trixie gritted her teeth as she offered the sore body part to her child.

Yelping as he latched on, Trixie immediately took him away. It didn't feel right. Willpower alone made her face a study in determination. The second attempt less successful than the first, she tried again. This time it hurt but the pain proved bearable and the child sucked greedily.

'I remember Moms teasing Bobby,' Trixie finally found the courage to give Jim a small smile through the tear tracks, 'making him open up his mouth really wide. She'd say, he has to get a mouthful to feed properly. I didn't know what she meant.'

'You do now,' Jim moved to sit beside his wife. Placing an arm around her, he carefully stoked the baby's downy red hair. 'We've got a lot to learn, Trix.'

'This still isn't much fun,' she lamented through gritted teeth. 'I'm sorry…'

'For what,' Jim tried to comfort, laying a kiss at her temple, 'we're on our own and I can't even help you feed and nourish my son. There are no parents or friends to help with advice. No textbooks or medical professional to consult. The only thing we have is our memories. I think we're doing well considering.'

'Considering we're only getting three or four hours sleep a night,' the rancour in Trixie's voice couldn't be stopped.

'Maybe you need to rest more during the day,' he suggested. 'Let me take care of the garden.'

'Does that offer extend to washing out the t-shirts Jamie uses for dippers,' Trixie attempted levity, failing dismally. 'What are we going to do with him during the winter,' she fretted, 'you and I have to ware every article of clothing we have to go out into the hole. Even in the cave, we wear a t-shirt.'

'I've come up with something,' Jim sounded brighter than he felt. He rarely slept through a feed, especially with Trixie's grunts of pain in the last day. While doing the manual jobs, his mind turned to the realities of raising a child. 'Remember the doe skin I've been saving from our first winter here? Well I used the old army jacket, lining it with the fur and made a kind of pouch to carry him in so you can get out of the cave. When the weather turns cooler, we'll add the fawn's skin to the sling for extra warmth.'

As much as she didn't want too, Trixie knew Jim needed help with the early spring garden. This year two small deer became statics of the Hell Hole, providing them with protein. Her husband needed to cut up the meat and dry it for summer. Much of the winter wood needed drying and stacking in case the strange sounds returned next month. They needed to find a way of starting a fire quickly because they'd used all the matches. Trixie knew she'd feel happier with Jamie at least checked out by a medical professional and that meant getting out of here soon.

'I'll give it a go tomorrow,' Trixie promised. 'At least Jamie will be saved from the worst of the cold in the morning and evening. In a few weeks, it'll be warmer.'

'The garden should have sprouted by then,' Jim added. 'I know we decided to wait to try climbing out, at least until we know if our signal fire attracts any attention over the summer. I'm going to do everything we need to, just in case all our escape routes fail and we get suck here for another year.'

A shiver ran the length of Trixie's spine. Somehow, she knew they'd still be here the same time next year. Looking down at her son, Trix wondered how they'd cope with the challenges a growing child would present. Not to mention the lack of amenities.

In desperation, Jim hacked off her long hair so the strands wouldn't get in Jamie's way while he fed. They'd both developed dreadlock. Needing to save the blade for more important jobs, Trixie observed at the near Nathanial looking man beside her. He needed a haircut, shave and they both needed a bath with shampoo and real soap. Water only did so much. Shuddering once again at the thought of a very dirty infant crawling around in the brown dirt of the hole, she wondered how they'd ever keep Jamie clean once he started moving.

By the end of April, her cracked nipples healed and she'd established a good feeding regime. Jamie allowed them five straight hours sleep a night by five weeks of age. Trixie didn't consider this sleeping through and complained bitterly. She had no idea this would be considered a miracle under normal circumstances. It didn't last long. At six weeks, Jamie became extremely fussy, increasing his feeding time and crying before his need meal should be due. He slept soundly between ravenously eating. Trixie once again had to be careful to attach him securely. The dippers were another issue altogether.

'You've gotten so heavy,' Jim commented, bouncing his son on his knee to give Trixie a break.

Rolling her eyes, Trixie muttered, 'growth spurt, which explains a lot.' Feeling her breasts, she realised they filled much earlier. Attempting to entice her child into his next meal, Jamie would have none of it.

Grinning, Jim placed his son into his carrier. 'Well,' he commented, 'it's time for this daddy to do some chores. The garden needs watering and it's never too young to learn responsibility.'

Yawning, Trixie waved goodbye, 'have fun.'

'He's finally down,' Jim whispered in Trixie's ear later that night. His hand crept to her stomach and began to trace lazy circles around her navel. They hadn't made love in months. _Two months, three days_, Jim mentally counted, _but who's keeping track._

'Wake him,' Trixie guided Jim's hand further south, 'and you'll be the one rocking him back to sleep.'

'Then you'd better be quiet,' he teased.

'Me!' Trixie squealed. Moving quickly, she pushed Jim onto his back and straddled him. 'You're the screamer in this marriage.'

'Watch out,' Jim managed to miss the sleeping bundle by separating his legs. The room in the sleeping cave, barely big enough for the two of them forced Jamie to sleep at his parents feet.

'Do you think we could take this party outside?' Trix suggested. Stopping to consider her options, she amended, 'close to the sleeping cave just in case Jamie wakes. I want to be able to hear him.'

Laughter gathered in Jim's green orbs. Slapping him, Trixie asked why without words. 'You're a Mom now, Shamus,' his tone deadly serious, 'and you're acting just like one.'

Stunned, she gazed off into space. 'I know,' Trixie commented, 'but until you said it, somehow it didn't seem real.'

Leading up to kiss her gently, Jim led them into a slow, intimate dance. Their touches filled with wonderment as he explored the changed in his wife's body. They reached that panicle together, ending entwined, happy but quite.

'Thank you,' Jim whispered.

'For what,' Trixie asked with a furrowed brow.

'You, Jamie, being safe,' he could have gone on forever, 'but mostly believing in me enough to love me as I am.'

A week later, Jamie started to sob without a reason. It occurred every evening at the same time. The howling session lasted several hours, causing his parents to want to pull their hair out. Neither Trixie nor Jim knew if the behaviour could be considered normal. They tried everything from jiggling the infant to leaving him to cry himself to sleep. In desperation Trixie fed him several times in a short space of time. Nothing worked.

In tears once again, Trixie sobbed. 'I don't have anything to feed him,' she wailed, milking her own breast to demonstrate to Jim.

Using his finger seemed to calm Jamie for a short while. His mind worked furiously to find an alternative to a bottle. 'Here goes nothing,' Jim muttered, holding a teaspoon full of cooled water to the infants' lips several hours later. 'I know it's not your Mommy's milk,' he used a soothing tone while peering into his son's blue eyes, 'but it's the best your dad can do.'

'It seems to be working,' Trixie whispered, afraid her words would break the spell. Jim grinned up at her, realising they past another challenge and tomorrow would bring more.


	8. Chapter 8

AN – I have a treat – two chapters in a very short space of time. My little one has been very sick. We've spent the last week in hospital. All better now so maybe I'll actually get to finish this soon.

'Senator,' the uniformed man saluted crisply, along with his entourage of five underlings. They'd been waiting for the military chopper to land, carrying its political cargo. Given the choice, the career soldier didn't want to be a part of this meeting, most especially under these circumstances and in such a crowded location.

'General,' the distinguished man replied after climbing down, the rotters stopped. Holding out his hand, the men shared a private moment of communication both wishing this consultation didn't need to take place. After shaking and sharing a look, they moved out of hearing range, keeping their voices low, just in case. 'I understand we have everything under control,' the senator stated lightly, unable and unwilling to elucidate.

'Yes, Sir,' The General replied, understanding the subtext, 'I've personally seen to it. We have been able to incorporate this new strategy without too many issues.'

'Good,' he smirked, 'last minute changes can be difficult to integrate into an annual event that's had a traditional time and place for over a decade.'

'Yes,' The General hissed, 'but not unexpected with the election of an unknown and untried Senator.'

'Who,' the political raised an eyebrow, 'has his own agenda and is not afraid to state it publicly. The man is deliberately transparent.'

'As is his strategy to use a military exercise to find his lost son in an area bordering the states of West Virginia and Virginia, which he's already searched several times at great expense,' added the uniformed man. 'I am confident discovery will be even less likely this year than in the past. The exercise will not take place until August at the very earliest. My staff need's the time to organise the new location. I cannot vouch for the new Senator's plans next year.'

'The next election will see yet another Senator for New York,' promised the politician, 'and you'll be able to maintain your usual timetable and strategy for the annual military exercised in and around Warm Springs. Then you can be assured of complete safety.'

'I have considered a smaller,' The General rubbed his chin, 'informal exercise at the regular time and location to see how the ground lays.'

'That won't be necessary,' declared the Senator. 'Sending a team might alert them to our annual covert surveillance.' Pausing, he considered his motivations carefully. 'No,' he stated with determination, 'they've equipped themselves well and I find them extremely resourceful under the circumstances. Besides, they may yet find a way out. Planting the trees – ingenious, although if it worked...'

'Yes,' agreed The General, 'it would have changed everything. Nature worked in our favour.'

'I'm not prepared to leave anything to chance again,' the well-dressed man avowed. 'Subtle enquires are being made, getting closer to the drop off point and discovery of the entire plan. We thought we'd removed the main issue,' sighing heavily he continued, 'but it seems the brother is as resourceful as the sister. His new profession protects him, as does his significant others father. Politically, they've played a very public game and it's worked well. I cannot go after the brother without causing a media outrage. Currently I'm incapable of stopping his enquiries through third and fourth parties. I'm sure he shares this information with is sponsor. Without an indiscretion, I'm incapable of removing New York's current Senator. We are, General, at an impasse.'

Two weeks later, Matthew Wheeler stormed around his home office. He'd remodelled the entire sub-penthouse floor, incorporating a suite of rooms enabling him to work from home when in New York. The apartment consisted of three separate bedroom zones, each with their own living space. Brian and Dan shared the "guest" area, Honey all but moved Mart into her private collection of rooms, Mr and Mrs Wheeler appropriated the master suite, leaving the office wing and a kitchen/formal/informal dining room connecting the four independent spaces.

'Well!' Matthew demanded of the two men standing stock still before his massive desk.

Tony looked imploringly towards Mart. Silently the younger man suggested the Head of Security start the conversation. He'd add the detail when needed and drop his bombshell.

'They've taken the bait,' Tony stood stock still, hands clasped behind his back. 'The major participants have shown themselves without realising what they've given away.

'So,' Matthew hissed, 'our plans in play.'

'Yes,' Tony agreed, 'all we can do now is wait for their next move, letting them tighten the noose with their own deeds.'

Dissatisfied, Matthew nodded, sighing heavily. 'Please,' he stated softly, turning to gaze out on the New York skyline from the picture window behind his ornate desk, 'refresh my memory once again.'

'Jonesy, recruited in jail, hired the truck which Smithy used to transport Jim and Trixie,' Tony started. 'Leaving Jonesy to take the fall after sending you the ransom e-mail, Smith drove the truck to the town of Wayne. We have Smithy's identity and his links to a drug cartel in South America. Sam lost his life discovering Smith changed trucks in Wayne, continued onto a private property outside of Cummings Maryland and used the privately owned helicopter to complete a three hundred mile journey the same day. Sam managed to get the information to us through a CIA contact whose been looking further without success.'

'As luck would have it,' Mart chimed in, 'we've managed to find the original truck locked up in a garage in Wayne. I've had a couple of sources looking for clues and they came up with this.' Walking over to Matthew, Mart handed him an envelope with three photographs.

'A picture of an ordinary pick up?' Matthew questioned.

'Notice the crate on the tray,' Mart suddenly sounded anger, 'well it most probably contained your son and my sister. Trixie's blood has been identified in the abandoned van. This frame came from a stoplight camera on the same block four hours after they were taken. Incidentally it's coming out of the same garage housing the abduction truck.'

'How can we be sure,' Matthew asked at the same time he looked at the second picture showing the same vehicle turning onto the private road leading to Senator Iraola's country residence. Glancing up to the younger man, his eyes asked the question his mouth couldn't.

'The final print,' Mart couldn't keep the fury from his tone, 'taken two weeks ago, shows The Senator and The General discussing the upcoming military activity. After re-evaluating the Mississippi Gun case, the FBI is certain the weapons are military issue, most probably stolen and the serial numbers removed.'

Eyeing the young man, Matthew dismissed Tony. 'Tell me the rest,' he demanded, 'I can see you believe this association between Senator Iraola and General Brooks is not as innocent as it seems.'

'They know were Jim and Trixie are,' rage coloured every word. 'I'm not sure how long they've known, but they do. Your plan to move the exercise to another area is utterly useless. My source believes they're being held somewhere around Warm Springs, Virginia.'

'We've been over that area several times,' Matthew paled, slumped into his chair and held his head in his hands. 'You're sure this information is completely accurate?'

'I have no reason to distrust,' Mart answered, 'they've been correct in every other instance. Where ever they have Jim and Trix, it's so well hidden the only way we'll find them is by accident. Besides, I know there still alive, I feel it.'

'The next election is only eighteen months away,' Matthew considered his options, the alterations he needed to make to his plans. Changing tactics, he glanced at Mart before stating, 'if we have any chance of finding Jim and Trixie, I have to be re-elected.'

'No,' Mart stated with venom rarely heard, 'I won't allow my personal life to be manipulated for anyone's gain. I love your daughter and one day we will be married, but not for you or anyone else.'

Nodding, Matthew couldn't help but be disappointed. The marriage of his daughter to Mart would give him an incredible amount of press leading up to the election in late November next year. Still he couldn't help the feeling proud at Mart's impenetrable stance.

'You'll win the next election,' Mart stood suddenly. Reaching for the door handle, he threw over his shoulder, 'because Trix and Jim will be home by then. Believe me, they'll create issues for you, for all of us,' he stated before stalking out.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN - I hope this link problem is fixed. I've attempted to load this chapter three times. Well if you reading this, then I've been sucessful! Thanks for letting me know.**

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'The days are going by so quickly,' Jim commented, watching his family bath in the pool.

Jamie loved the water. Safely in Trixie's arms, the infant stared as she poured water over his almost bald head. Jim punched holes in the bottom of an old can to form a kind of shower. Happy noises exclaimed the child's delight at the game.

Growing so fast, his hair hadn't managed to keep track with the circumference of his head. Still as red as Jim's, it shone in the August sun. At least the summer heat meant they could keep Jamie in the shade and dispense with their best attempt at home made dippers which didn't work all that well. At the end of each day, after spending a good part of it on his belly in the brown dirt, Trixie insisted they bath their son. Today Jim scored wiping and dressing duty, while his wife got to play in the water with their infant. They swapped everyday so they both spent quality time with Jamie.

'I can't believe he's four months old,' Trixie dipped the can again to the delighted squeal.

'Time to get out buddy,' Jim knelt beside the pool, reaching for his son ten minutes later, 'or you'll look like a prune.' Wrapping him in a T-shirt, he took the time to really examine the child. Now able to reach out a grab, Jamie covered his face in a game of boo. 'Have you noticed,' Jim's voice trembled, 'the green creeping into his eyes?'

'I wondered if it was just my imagination,' Trix smiled, hoping her little boy would share his father's colouring. He seemed to share everything else, proving Jim's genes to be very strong.

'I wanted him to keep your eyes,' Jim looked longingly into his wife face.

'I want him to be happy and healthy,' Trixie replied. 'I love the fact he's a miniature copy of you. No one's going to doubt who his father is once we get out of here.'

Laughing, Jim quickly diapered his son for the night. 'After more than two years down here,' he teased, 'I don't think anyone will be all that surprised.'

'Well,' Trixie suddenly turned serious, 'it's not going to happen again.'

'No,' Jim agreed, his emotions echoing his wife's, 'it's not.'

After putting the baby to bed, he made slow, gentle love to his wife. Once they'd finished, he started again, ensuring she slept peacefully, contently after the second time in an exhausted slumber. Checking on Jamie, he kissed his son goodbye. Resolving the next time he saw them, he be accompanied by a rescue team, Jim left his sleeping family.

Over the last few weeks, he'd been surveying every inch of the sheer cliff walls. June and July came without any hope of rescue. They'd been careful to listen for any signs of life outside the hole. To the best of their knowledge, it hadn't happened this year for some reason.

Trixie started her period again last week and the resumption of their sex life scared him. James Winthrop Frayne needed to get them home. He needed to give his family stability, an income and security. Most of all he needed to protect Trixie from another pregnancy. While he loved Jamie, the timing of his birth couldn't have come at a worse phase in their abduction. They needed to finish their education and recover from this ordeal. It'd be so much harder with an infant but not impossible. Together they'd cope. They'd already proved they could weather almost anything.

Breathing deeply, Jim prepared to climb out of The Hell Hole. Looking up at the long, shear assent, he prayed the small ledges would hold his weight. Choosing each new niche with care, he tested it before trusting it. At fourteen feet, the dirt beneath his right foot crumbled. Holding his breath, Jim transferred the load to the other holds. Counting slowly to ten, nothing happened. Carefully, he felt around for another spot. Finding one two feet over, James Frayne moved his right foot to its new position. Spread dangerously on the vertical wall, Jim had a choice to make. Either he kept going or conceded defeat.

Another three feet up and he could almost reach up to touch the rim. He'd chosen this section for the hand and foot holds it offered and decreased height in comparison to the rest of the Hell Hole. Ensuring his feet held firm and his left hand griped the wall, Jim started to move his right arm above his head. Inches from the lip, Jim discovered the slight inward slope of the cliff making it impossible to climb out. Cursing, he took another hour to return to the floor in utter despair at his failure.

This new knowledge gave Jim new insight into their prison. Using the light of a full moon, he walked the circumference. After his disappointment he re-examined the sheer cliffs trapping them. His prospective changed, realising the section he'd chosen actually had less of an inward angle than the remainder of the wall.

'Impossible,' growled Jim as the sun made an appearance on the eastern horizon. He had to return to the sleeping cave. Jamie would wake Trixie for his morning feed soon. If she woke and found him in this mood, she'd know.

'You look tired,' Trixie commented an hour later. Something in his expression told her not to ask. Watching his features closely, she guessed he finally attempted the climb and failed miserably. Relieved she didn't find him with a broken limb or worse, dead, Trixie counted herself lucky.

'Yes,' Jim agreed, sticking to the truth as closely as possible, 'I didn't sleep much last night.'

'It shows,' she tried again to get him to open up.

'I'll catch up today,' sighing Jim forced his exhausted body to start the daily chores. Unable to find any reason to keep up the pretence, his voice sounded flat and defeated to his ears.

It didn't matter how he tried to hide his night's activities, Jim's deepening depression gave it away. As the days passed, he slept more, neglecting both Trixie and his son. Withdrawing from life, he found his pleasure in watching his family play or keeping their only source of nutrition going disintegrating. His joy in childish giggles dissipated to the point where they actually began to annoy him. Jamie felt the change, at first crying for his father's attention, then refusing it when Trixie demanded Jim do his share. She taken over caring for all three of them and it took its toll, but Jim didn't notice. Not since the night Jonesy punished him for running away, then tied him up for three day without food or water, had he felt this low.

_No_, Jim's mind stated, _I feel worse. I have two lives to protect and I can't do it. I can't find the energy to try, I don't want too. Everything I attempt fails making me the biggest failure. I thought my stepfather did a great job of trying to destroy my self-worth. Turns out he's a rank amateur._

'Jim,' Trixie demanded his attention. Three weeks she'd been coping alone. Fretful, Jamie woke several times each night demanding his mother's comfort. Initially Jim ignored the baby's cries. In the last few days he woken and walked out the moment his son started fussing. Having enough, exhausted and emotionally confused at Jim lack of interest, Trixie reached the last straw. 'If you walk out that door,' she threatened, not knowing what else to do, 'don't bother coming back. I need you not this…this…' bursting in to the tears she'd been holding in for days, she sobbed, 'whatever it is.'

Nodding, Jim answered a tone she never heard before. Not an ounce of the man she'd come to know and respect came through in his voice. 'You're right,' he confessed, 'you'll do much better without a failure like me around.'

Jaw dropping, Trixie knew she couldn't let him out of the cave. If he walked out, their relationship, and more importantly, Jim's life would never be the same again. 'I could have told you,' Trixie deliberately lowered her voice so he needed to strain to listen to her words, 'you'd never be able to climb out of here. You needed to know it for yourself, Jim. You needed to come to that conclusion on your own. I thought letting you try would be the answer. The night you tried, I watched from the cave mouth, my heart pounding at the thought of you falling to your death. It scared me but I had to let you do it, to prove to yourself it couldn't be done. I guess I shouldn't have bothered, it killed you anyway.'

'How can I protect you if I can't protect myself,' he demanded in a deadly voice.

Trying hard not to show her emotions, Jamie picked up on the atmosphere and began to cry. 'I'm not Jonesy,' Trixie looked him in the eye, remembering all the stories he'd told her the night after they first made love. The night he hurt her and then had the courage to make it all better. 'I'll never punish you for not living up to my expectations because I chose to love you. I chose to love all of you, including the parts you don't like about yourself.' Sighing deeply, she didn't even try to stop her child's growing distress.

'Please,' she begged, 'don't leave us. You of all people know what it's like to grow up without your father. Would you place your son in the same situation? What if I chose to remarry the wrong kind of person?'

He'd turned away from her, from her words. Jim's mind knew the pop psychology behind her hurtful, hated words. Yet it reached him on a level he'd never considered. _No_, his mind cried, _you wouldn't do that to Jamie, wouldn't put him through what I went through. Yet my mother did. She loved my father and missed him so much she married Jonesy out of loneliness. Trix you wouldn't do the same?_

Yet history seemed to be repeating itself.

'I'm not your Mom either, Jim,' Trixie placed her now screaming child on the cave floor, realising she needed to concentrate on the broken-hearted child before her.

'Why,' he let out a howl of pure pain, 'why did she do it to me? Why did she leave me with that man? Why did she let him do those things to me?' His sobs brought Jim to his knees. Trixie took him into her arms and followed him to the floor.

She had no idea Jim suffered from post-traumatic stress, or his most recent failure triggered his current behaviour. Beatrix Frayne knew she'd broken him down and now she had to build him up again. One arm around the love of her life, she took her son and forced him into Jim's arms.

'I'll never let anyone hurt our son the way you've been hurt,' she whispered. 'If you're always by my side, Jim, there will never be a need for him to call another man father. I don't want anyone else.'

Through the broken sobs, Trixie though she heard Jim promise to never leave. It didn't make her heart sing, only brought a sorrow the likes of which she'd never felt before. He needed professional help, help she could only attempt in a bumbling way.

'Happy Thanks Giving,' Trixie exclaimed, a bright smile covering her face. In the months since Jim's breakdown, they'd slowly achieve a new normal. August disappeared before James Frayne smiled again or took delight in his son's giggles. The lopsided grin vanished and Trix wondered if she'd ever see it again. However the easy physical intimacy they always achieved returned giving Trixie hope for their future.

'Trix,' Jim demanded the truth from her blue eyes, 'we haven't got that much to be thankful for this year.'

'You're still alive, Jamie's growing well, the garden produced a good crop and the usual winter weather has held off,' Trixie stated, remaining as upbeat as possible, 'what's not to be thankful for.'

Sighing, James Frayne closed his lids, lifting his face to the weak sun. He needed to face the white elephant sitting in the middle of the hole since August. 'I'm OK, Trix,' he stated evenly, 'thanks to you. Now you have to trust me when I say the depression was reactive. I know you think I've changed and I have. So have you. This place has forced us to mature, for our bond grow to the point where I could trust you enough to break down and let you build me up again.'

Facing his lover, Jim reached out. A strong hand clasping each shoulder as Jamie crawled in the dirt at their feet. 'You and Jamie are all I live for. If we never get out of this place, I won't allow myself to return to that dark place. It made me realise how much you need me, physically and emotionally. How selfish I'd have been leaving my son at such an early age. I know I can't control the future, but I can place the past in perspective and finally let the shame go.'

'When you get back,' Jim gazed into her orbs, his words heartfelt, 'I'll stand up in front of anyone willing to listen and tell them exactly what Jonesy did to me, what he's capable of and why he should be put away for the rest of his life. If it weren't for you, Shamus, for your courage in loving me completely, I'd never have healed enough to get here.'

Crushing Trixie in his embrace, James Frayne realised he had so much to be thankfully for.


	10. Chapter 10

'We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,' Jim and Trixie sang to their eight month old. Big green eyes looked back at them, while a rose bud mouth cooed in harmony. He loved it when his parents made noise and even better when they did it as a family. Clapping his hands in delight, Jamie asked for more.

'At least,' Jim stated in a melancholy tone, 'I think it's Christmas Day.'

'Daddy can't be sure,' Trixie chimed in as cheerfully as possible, 'his watch stopped working a couple of weeks before you were born so we've been measuring the days with pen and paper. Mommy's not so good at remembering to mark the calendar every day.'

'Ahm,' her husband made a non-committal voice in agreement.

Eyeing him, Trixie didn't rise to his bait. Instead she scoured her mind for another carol. Finding one, she started. It didn't take long to realise she couldn't remember all the words. Covering the lost sounds with a hum, Jamie didn't know the difference.

'You know what I wish,' Jim asked wistfully. Shaking her head, Trixie wondered what would come next, 'I wish I could remember more Christmas songs, even the really commercial ones. This is our third holiday season down here and until Jamie's birth, we really didn't celebrate. I guess it brings all we've lost too close to home on the holidays. They're usually time's when the whole family would get together, friends came to visit and even strangers greeted each other in the street with a Merry Christmas and a smile.'

'Presents,' Trixie gazed on her child with adoring eyes, 'I don't care about us, but Christmas is a time of giving, especially to children. This is Jamie's first Christmas and we don't have anything for him.'

'But we do,' Jim announced with a smile. Wrapping himself in the shabby, tattered jacket he'd worn while camping well over two years ago, James Frayne grinned wildly. 'I'll be back in a minute.'

Good to his word, Jim reinterred the sleeping cave with a large tin can in his arms. Taking a seat in the sand before his son, he removed another can from inside the first, then another and another. Eventually seven cans, each a size smaller than the one before graced the space between father and son.

'I've tried everything to paint or colour them brightly,' Jim lamented, obviously unsuccessful. 'I did manage to find a way to get rid of the sharp edges so little fingers couldn't cut themselves.' He demonstrated to Trixie, before allowing James Frayne the Third to play with his Christmas present. Eagerly pouncing on them, the child's expression displayed his joy.

'Goo, goo, gar,' he commented when hitting the largest upturned tin made a pleasing noise.

Tears in her eyes, Trixie managed, 'their wonderful, Jim. I can't believe Jamie finally has a toy.'

'Makes you think, doesn't it,' Jim speculated, 'how much of the material "stuff" we surround ourselves with is necessary. I mean, we've been without almost everything but we've survived, managed to produce a happy and healthy child. If this happened at home, how many things would we have for Jamie?'

Shuddering at the thought, Trixie managed in an ironic tone, 'dippers, clothing, and advice from Moms.' Pausing, she continued in a normal voice, 'but I understand what you're saying Jim. There are some things that would have made life more bearable. Not that I regret my son, but the contraceptive pill would have come in handy.'

'Twenty foot ladder,' he managed in a dead pan response. Able to make this diffuse reference to his depression displayed Jim's recovery. Trixie gave him a look which said, _I know what you're doing and why but I don't need proof of your improvement. I love you anyway_.

Three days later, Jamie began to crawl in earnest. Up until now he'd managed to roll over and creep on the ground like a caterpillar. Finally managing to get up on to all fours, he quickly understood the dynamics of movement.

'You're too much like your father,' Trixie commented as the child made a bee line for the sleeping cave's entry. Only her quick action saved the little boy from the freezing weather outside. 'Oh no you don't, you little rascal,' she remonstrated, scooping Jamie into her arms, 'I know you're anxious to explore, but not until this snow clears the ground.'

'Bo, bo, bo,' he demanded, chubby hands reaching for the opening in huge, old army jacket she wore. If he couldn't go outside, he wanted the next best thing.

The mother in Trixie knew what her son demanded without the accompanying sounds. They'd started feeding Jamie solids at five months when Trixie realised he watched every spoonful take the journey from her bowl to her mouth. Several attempts later, after almost chocking their son, they discovered the correct consistency for an infant. Since then his meals became lumpier. However he still needed breast feeding several times each day. At the moment, in the middle of a growth spurt, James Frayne the Third became a tenacious eater.

Trixie's mind considered their food problem. She'd needed to increase the quantity of calories to sustain her milk over the winter months. The extra depleted their stores, both fresh and caned, faster than Jim expected. Failure of the winter crop early in the season due to a sudden freeze left only the fall harvest to sustain them over the long cold months. Along with Jamie's hunger, this added a huge strain on their supplies feeding a rapidly growing child. From the start, Jamie ate the same meals as his parents, only well mushed up.

Recently meat became an issue. They'd run out of venison. When Jim went to the rabbit hole, he found the animals gone for the cold season. It'd happened before. This time he felt a permanency, as though the animals sensed the reason for their depleted ranks and relocated to another borough.

Jamie looked at his mother with pleading eyes, wanting something to drink less than the comfort her breast offered. Unable to ignore the thirsty child, Trixie sat cross-legged, holding her son to her breast. Admiring his angelic expression of contentment, she remarked, 'you really are a miniature copy of your father!'

'Witty, intelligent, good looking,' Jim supplied watching this ritual he couldn't participate in, 'just like me.'

'Modest too,' Trixie added.

January brought more issues. Extremely warm weather coupled with freezing nights set up an icy surface across the Hole. Stepping out of the sleeping cave required ice skates they didn't have. Going to the toilet in the water cave became an effort.

'Please stop it, Jamie,' Trixie placed her hands over her ears in an attempt to alleviate the sound. 'You can't go outside. It's too cold and slippery. You'll freeze in your sling.'

'Da, da, da,' he continued to cry, arms outreaching towards the sleeping cave entry.

'Daddy's gone to get our dinner from the supply cave,' Trixie tolerance at an all-time low from being cooped up in a confined space with an almost ten month old, finally snapped. 'Sit down and shut up,' she hollered, 'I've had just about all I can take. Don't you think I want to be outside too?'

Jamie's wails competed with his mother's tears. Walking into the emotionally charged situation, Jim didn't know who to comfort first. Something in Trixie's body language made him realise a wrong move could spell disaster. Placing the bowls carefully on the floor, he gave Jamie his. Turning to his wife, Jim took her into his arms.

'Hey,' he soothed, 'whatever it is, we'll work through it.'

'Will we?' Trixie sobbed. 'I'm not so sure our luck is going to hold out much longer.'

Silently he agreed. The dynamic between them had subtly changed. February appeared and their continued confinement made tempers grow short. Jim thought he knew why, only he didn't want to talk to Trix about their food situation. 'If we get a good spring and fall crop,' he whispered, rubbing her back, 'and maybe a deer or two, we'll be set for next winter.'

'I don't want to be down here again next winter,' she moaned into Jim's jacket. 'I don't want Jamie to be forced to play in ten square feet all winter. I don't want…I don't want…'

Since his own dip into depression, he'd been waiting for Trixie to fall. She'd been his strength, his guiding light in a very dark period of his life. Now he'd have to give the same level of support. Finally after almost three years trapped in this god forsaken hole, she'd come to the end of her ability to cope.

March allowed them time out of their captivity. The days warmed suddenly and the night remained a decent temperature. Taking a chance, Jim toiled to establish a very early spring garden. They'd worked the same piece of land for three years. Allowing it to lay fellow Jim selected another site on the opposite side of the stream.

'Moving the garden was a good idea,' Trixie watched her son and husband digging in the hard backed dirt. 'The tomatoes have already sprouted and I can see several other plants breaking the surface.'

'I'll need to plant more,' Jim looked up from his toil, 'to make sure we have enough for a growing family.'

Rolling her eyes, Trixie fondly gazed at the two men in her life, one a miniature of the other. 'The way this kid eats, I wonder how the Wheeler's managed to fill you up as a teenager.'

'Between Honey's newly found apatite after befriending you,' he commented, remembering a happier time in his life, 'and adopting me, I'm not sure Cook knew what hit her.'

'I remember,' Trixie teased.

Grinning, Jim's eyes made promises about their nocturnal activities tonight. They'd been careful about making love for several reasons. The chance of pregnancy ruled their sex life. Next came fatigue and limited space in their sleeping cave. They couldn't just go outside in winter to appease their need of each other. Now the chance presented its self, Jim would use every opportunity to resume conjugal relations with his common law wife.

The start of April brought several revelations. The rabbits had well and truly relocated to a safer environment. After pulling himself up on every available surface possible, Jamie finally took his first steps. By the time Trixie managed to call out to Jim, the child fell on his rump. Unfazed, he tried again. Wobbling, one foot placed before another, this time he got six feet before deciding crawling might be the better option.

'Hey,' Jim rushed over, scooping his son up and over his head. Spinning around, Jamie started to giggle at the impromptu game with his father. 'Aren't you a clever boy? Just a year old and walking already.'

At his side, Trixie had tears of joy in her eyes. It belayed the regret caused by the failure of half their vegetables. Two nights ago a sudden frost killed most of the tender seeding. At this rate they wouldn't have enough food to survive next winter. Not one deer had been silly enough to lose its life to the hole over the winter. So far Jim had managed to bring down two birds with a makeshift sling, giving them some protein rich meals.

'I just wish,' Trixie muttered under her breath, 'the rest of our families were here to witness this. Until this moment I didn't realise how much I miss other people.'

'Lt Tom Newton reporting for duty, sir,' the army officer saluted his superior.

He'd been waiting almost an hour, even though the General called this meeting. At a loss, Tom wondered if this had something to do with the political posturing before the Presidential Election set for November. Last year the military games had been delayed because of the Senator whose son had been kidnapped stuck his nose into things he knew nothing about. Up for re-election, the entire base wondered if he'd changed the location and timing again this year at the last moment. _That has to be why the General's called me in_, Tom realised.

'I want you to lead one of the teams in the army games this year,' General Brooks requested.

'Sir,' the young soldier questioned with the tone of his voice.

'It will be held in the traditional area with two opposing sides,' the older man grimaced. 'You're to be in charge of Blue's recognisance squad. We're moving the timetable up to August with a view to returning to the June/July slot next year.'

'Sir,' Tom attempted to keep his tone neutral, wondering why the General bothered to explain this to a lowly lieutenant, 'I'll do my best to win for the army and this base.'

'Very good, Lt Newton, because you'll be up against a team of Marines backed by a combined Navy/Air Force personnel,' he nodded in dismissal. 'I'll have Col. Smith brief you on our strategy. He'll be heading up Blue team and you'll act as his assistant until the games begin.'

It didn't take Tom Newton long to find the members of his team. Telling the immediate members of his squad, they wondered why. By evening meal, most of the base knew.

'What did the Colon say?' Harvey asked.

'We'll be patrolling an area around Warm Springs, near the Hell Hole,' Newton explained. 'The aim is to keep the other team from reaching our tag while we attempt to find theirs and win the game.'


	11. Chapter 11

AN – so much for the short book linking Discovery to Repercussions. Eleven chapters and as many words as my other books in this series, I think I covered a little more than initially intended. Thank you all for following it. There is still at least another eleven chapters in the next book and twenty odd thousand words. If anyone has ideas, anything they want incorporated, I'm listening.

* * *

The string beans needed harvesting. August all but ended, the last of the summer heat would soon be leached from the early morning and evenings. September would be the last attempt to hoard food for cold season. By late fall the vines would be dormant. When winters cold commenced, they'd wither and die.

_Just like us_, Trixie added silently, afraid to speak the words aloud. She'd noticed Jim skipping meals recently. _Not that he can afford to, he's thin enough as it is. We haven't made love in two months because he doesn't have the energy. Living down here, he works all day and we can't even provide the food to give him a decent meal at night. Doesn't he think I can see his empty bowl and hear his stomach grumble?_

'I'm going to have to save these seeds,' Trixie spoke to keep her sanity intact, 'even thought I don't want too. The harvest hasn't been particularly good this year. I wonder if it's something to do with changing the position of the garden. Not enough sun or something?' Sighing heavily, Trix sat back on her hunches and rubbed her back. Looking around at the last of the plants, most lay withered and dying in the exceptionally hot August sun. 'What vegetables we've managed to grow are stored in water cave for the fast approaching winter. I just don't know how we're going to get through this year.'

Feeling heavy and awkward, Trixie sighed once again. Her back had been aching most of day. She had put the uncomfortable feeling down to her garden labours. Standing, her knees felt the strain of hours on the hard packed dirt. Stretching she looked around for her young son. Boredom set in long ago and the toddler left his mother's side for more exciting options. Trixie spied him out of the corner of her eye until a she picked the final bean a few moments earlier. Now she couldn't and began to panic slightly, her mothering instincts on high alert.

Jim would be in the supply cave. As she well knew, they were down to a few tins of canned food. The last of the fresh supplies from the previous year went into the cooking pot affording yesterday's meals. Jim knew about their precarious situation for a while and tried to hide the fact. It couldn't have come at a worse time.

_I wonder if Jamie's ambled off to see what Jim's doing,_ she pondered_. _Scanning the area, Trixie spotted her son. The colour drained from her face as her heart appeared in her throat. Automatically a hand covered her lips, until Trixie Frayne realised she needed her voice.

'No,' Trixie screamed in a blind panic. _Please, I'm just so big I can't…_ 'No,' the word torn from her mouth a second time as Trixie attempted to run. She fell on her second step and started to weep. 'Help,' she wailed in desperation, a note of terror in her tone, 'please stop him.'

The timber of Trixie's panicked screams echoed off the shear walls of the hole. Intensified by the confined space, Jim heard the ruckus and responded immediately. Above ground the sound travelled several hundred yards in all directions. It attracted the attention of a five man patrol on a military exercise. Lt Tom Newton listened intently before signalling his men to stop. The second cry forced him into action.

Tom Newton and his men trudged through the thick under bush. They'd been at this for hours, ten at least. So far they'd neither seen nor heard Red team. Four days into their two week games and already the recognisance squad wished they could be any place but lumbering through George Washington National Forest in the blazing August sun with forty pound pack on their backs.

'What I wouldn't do,' Henry Lavigne slapped a hand to the back of his sweat drenched neck, 'to be bathing in those Warm Springs.'

'Yo, man,' Jerome Armstrong disagreed, 'honeymooners.'

'Yeh,' Nick Harvey grunted under the extra weight of his communications bag, 'heard it's becoming all the rage again.'

'I'd be happy,' Mick Hastings added, 'to be bathing in a natural spring with an even more natural blond at my side!'

'Quiet,' Tom hissed and signalled at the same time. Listening intently he crouched down, forcing his squad to follow suit. Five pairs of ears hung on every sound.

It came again, over the sound of wildlife. A woman's panicked scream pleading for someone to stop, as though she'd been attacked. Signing to his men, they spread out in the direction of the cries, each maintaining a six foot distance between them. Alert, truly alert for the first time since their babysitting mission began the men could only hear the terrified feminine sobs intensify as they moved further into the under bush.

Disgust, the first emotion to cross Tom's mind, he remembered Red team held a female Marine in their ranks. He hoped this wasn't a set up by the other side to lure them out. _All's fair in war_, he thought sourly, _although this kind of trap just isn't in the sprite of the games. I expect better of Marines._

Five meters closer to the sound, Lt Newton halted his troops suddenly. Once again he considered his options. Then he realised the shriek came from the same direction as The Hell Hole. He'd been specifically ordered not to approach the hole. At the time he'd wanted to question Col. Smith about the out of bounds area. After all, it might be the best location to hide their team's colours and easily defended with minimal personnel. The man had been obstinate in his refusal.

The woman's hysterical sobbing suddenly ceased, leaving an eerie silence. Several team members looked at each other with wide eyes. Unwilling to injure his men, Tom decided on a new plan. Moving at a snail's pace, Tom stopped his team twenty yards short of the cliff edge. Working silently, Harvey, the lightest among them, dropped his pack and communications gear at Big Mikes feet. Securing a rope, Nick Harvey attached the end to Jerome Armstrong. The African America soldier had muscles upon muscles from his hours in the gym. Inching forward, Harvey tested every step as he cautiously approached the drop off.

* * *

Jim heard the commotion. Fatigued beyond measure, he forced his feet beneath his thin frame. Over the last six weeks, he slowly reduced his daily intake of calories. First a frost decimated the early spring harvest, then heat killed the summer crop, finally something ate the seedlings for a late fall harvest. They had no protein, little in the way of canned stores and three hungry mouths to feed over the winter.

Instinctively reacting to the tone in Trixie's voice, he moved as fast as his emaciated body allowed him. Emerging from the supply cave, Jim had to stop for a moment and allow his eye's to adjust to the bright sunlight. When they did, he added a scream of his own.

'Jammmmmmie,' Jim wailed, sighting his son face down and unmoving in the stream. Willing his body to move, he sprinted across the hard packed dirt. Leaning down, Jim scooped his tiny son into his arms. Tears streamed down his face at the thought of what might have happened.

_He couldn't have been in there long,_ Jim hoped rather than believed. Taking a moment to force his mind to think logically, he looked at the child in his arms. _He's still breathing,_ James Winthrop Frayne realised_._ Looking up, his green eyes met blue. In that instant, both parents felt intense relief.

Coughing and spluttering, Jamie heaved a stomach full of water. Jim never felt so happy to be vomited on. Looking up at his father with miserable green eyes, he muttered 'Dada,' before curling further into Jim's strong embrace.

Although Jim wanted to yell at the child for the fright he'd given them, other emotions wared with his sense of relief. Jamie knew better than to approach the stream alone. Jim and Trixie drummed water safety into him since the child took his first steps, perhaps even earlier, when he started to crawl and wanted to explore his environment.

_He's becoming curious_, Jim realised, _this is a new phase in his development and something else we will have to cope with._

* * *

Shocked to the core, Harvey couldn't utter a word. What he witnessed on the floor of The Hole, made him feel sick to his stomach. A filthy woman, heavily pregnant lay sprawled on the ground by a failing vegetable patch. She wore nothing but he could have been forgiven for thinking a skin tight brown leotard covered her body. A man, wild in appearance with a bushy, unkempt beard stared at the woman and held a small child in his arms. They looked so much alike they had to be father and son. None of them looked well fed or nourished, especially the man. A stiff breeze could have knocked him down, his frame so thin it defied gravity.

_How in hell's name did they get stuck down there?_ Harvey wondered. _It's not called the Hell Hole for nothing._

Turning to face his comrades, the young soldier's expression warned the Lieutenant to expect trouble. Breaking silence, Harvey attempted to make the sound describing what he'd just seen. Body tensed, he stated in a harsh voice, 'I think we need a medivac, Lt Newton. There are two civvies and a kid in the hole. Looks like they've been there a while cause the lady's about to pop with another one at any minute.'

Swearing under his breath, Tom signalled to Mick to fire up communications. Handing the stat phone to his leader, Hastings retrieved the first aid kit from his pack. Not a field medic, he had more training in first aid than the rest of the patrol put together. Signalling Armstrong and Lavigne, Mick prepared to repel himself down into the hole and offer the sad couple whatever help he could.

'Have they seen you yet,' Newton barked at Harvey, still waiting for the phone to be answered. When the young soldier shook his head, Tom instructed, 'make them then get out of the way for Hasting to go down.'

Lying sprawled on her back and unable to get up without Jim's help, Trixie spotted the soldier on the rim. 'Jim,' she called in a shrill tone. It attracted his attention immediately. Pointing to the man gawking at them, she finally managed to roll onto her hands and knees.

'Hey,' Jim yelled, immediately coming to Trixie's rescue. He didn't want to lose the only real possibility of escape they had found in three and a half years. However the man moved out of Jim's line of sight. Disappointed, Jamie wouldn't stop clinging to his father's neck, making Jim's job more difficult. Holding onto his temper by the finest thread, he finally managed to get Trixie to her feet and hand the desperate child into her arms.

'We've got another problem, Jim,' Trixie bit her lip with the pain of a contraction. Only now in the middle of this desperate situation did she realise the significance of her back pain. Looking to the ground beneath her feet, a patch of wet earth greeted her gaze.

Nodding his understanding, he took Jamie from her arms before turning back to the direction of their rescuers. Trixie didn't need the added burden when she only just managed to stand on her own two feet. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Jim attempted to make them understand just how desperate their situation.

'Down here,' he called, desperation colouring his voice.

As if by magic, the young soldier reappeared on the rim. Giving them a signal with is hand, he acknowledged Jim's plea. Asking them to wait a minute in sign language, a second soldier approached the drop off point backwards, a rope tied around his waist.

Weak with joy, Jim sank to his knees then collapsed on his rump in the sand. Tears of elation streamed down his face and into Jamie's red hair shining like a beacon in the sunshine. The child clung to his father, frightened by his unusual response. A hand on Jim's shoulder and convulsive swallowing displayed Trixie's ecstasy. Their rescue couldn't have come at a better time.

'Choppers on it way,' the echoing response from another individual atop their prison turned their quiet world upside down.

* * *

The end of Revelations


End file.
